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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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268 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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277 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
278 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
281 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
282 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
283 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
284 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
285 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
286 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
287 License'' in the Emacs manual.
289 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
290 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
291 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
293 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
294 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
295 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
296 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
304 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
306 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
311 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
334 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
335 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
337 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
338 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
339 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
340 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
341 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
342 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
343 License'' in the Emacs manual.
345 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
346 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
347 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
349 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
350 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
351 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
352 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
361 @top The Gnus Newsreader
365 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
366 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
367 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
370 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
381 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
382 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
384 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
385 being accused of plagiarism:
387 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
388 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
389 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
390 can even read news with it!
392 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
393 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
394 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
395 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
396 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
402 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
403 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
404 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
405 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
406 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
407 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
408 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
409 * Various:: General purpose settings.
410 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
411 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
412 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
413 * Key Index:: Key Index.
416 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
420 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
421 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
422 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
423 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
424 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
425 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
426 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
427 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
428 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
429 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
430 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
434 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
435 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
436 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
440 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
441 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
442 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
443 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
444 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
445 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
446 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
447 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
448 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
449 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
450 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
451 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
452 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
453 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
454 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
455 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
456 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
460 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
461 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
462 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
466 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
467 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
468 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
469 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
470 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
474 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
475 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
476 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
477 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
481 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
482 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
483 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
484 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
485 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
486 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
487 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
488 * Threading:: How threads are made.
489 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
490 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
491 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
492 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
493 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
494 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
495 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
496 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
497 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
498 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
499 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
500 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
501 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
502 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
503 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
504 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
505 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
506 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
507 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
508 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
509 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
511 Summary Buffer Format
513 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
514 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
515 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
516 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
520 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
521 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
523 Reply, Followup and Post
525 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
526 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
527 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
528 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
532 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
533 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
534 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
535 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
536 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
537 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
541 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
542 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
544 Customizing Threading
546 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
547 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
548 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
549 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
553 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
554 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
555 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
556 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
557 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
558 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
562 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
563 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
564 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
568 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
569 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
570 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
571 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
572 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
573 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
574 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
575 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
577 Alternative Approaches
579 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
580 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
582 Various Summary Stuff
584 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
585 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
586 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
587 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
591 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
592 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
593 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
594 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
595 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
599 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
600 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
601 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
602 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
603 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
604 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
605 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
606 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
610 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
611 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
612 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
613 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
614 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
615 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
616 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
620 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
621 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
622 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
623 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
624 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
625 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
626 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
630 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
631 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
635 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
636 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
637 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
638 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
639 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
640 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
641 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
642 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
643 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
644 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
645 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
646 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
647 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
651 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
652 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
653 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
655 Choosing a Mail Backend
657 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
658 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
659 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
660 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
661 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
662 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
666 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
667 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
668 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
669 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
670 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
671 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
675 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
676 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
677 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
678 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
679 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
680 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
684 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
688 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
689 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
690 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
694 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
695 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
696 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
700 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
701 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
705 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
706 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
707 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
708 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
709 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
710 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
711 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
712 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
713 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
714 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
718 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
719 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
720 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
724 * Group Agent Commands::
725 * Summary Agent Commands::
726 * Server Agent Commands::
730 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
731 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
732 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
733 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
734 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
735 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
736 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
737 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
738 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
739 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
740 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
741 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
742 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
743 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
744 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
745 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
749 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
750 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
751 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
752 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
756 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
757 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
758 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
762 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
763 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
764 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
765 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
766 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
767 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
768 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
769 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
770 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
771 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
772 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
773 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
774 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
775 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
776 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
777 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
778 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
779 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
783 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
784 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
785 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
786 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
787 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
791 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
792 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
793 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
794 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
798 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
799 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
800 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
801 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
802 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
806 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
807 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
808 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
809 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
810 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
811 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
812 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
813 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
817 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
818 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
819 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
820 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
821 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
822 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
823 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
824 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
825 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
829 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
830 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
831 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
832 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
833 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
837 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
838 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
839 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
840 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
844 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
845 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
846 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
847 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
848 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
849 * Group Info:: The group info format.
850 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
851 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
852 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
856 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
857 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
858 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
859 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
860 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
861 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
865 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
866 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
870 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
871 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
877 @chapter Starting Gnus
882 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
883 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
886 @findex gnus-other-frame
887 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
888 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
889 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
891 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
892 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
893 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
895 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
896 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
899 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
900 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
901 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
902 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
903 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
904 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
905 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
906 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
907 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
908 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
909 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
913 @node Finding the News
914 @section Finding the News
917 @vindex gnus-select-method
919 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
920 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
921 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
922 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
925 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
926 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
932 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
935 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
938 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
939 certainly be much faster.
941 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
943 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
944 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
945 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
946 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
947 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
948 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
950 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
951 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
952 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
953 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
955 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
956 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
957 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
958 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
959 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
960 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
961 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
962 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
963 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
966 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
968 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
969 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
970 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
971 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
972 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
973 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
975 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
977 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
978 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
979 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
980 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
981 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
982 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
985 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
986 would typically set this variable to
989 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
994 @section The First Time
995 @cindex first time usage
997 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
998 be subscribed by default.
1000 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1001 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1002 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1003 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1006 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1007 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1008 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1010 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1011 help you with most common problems.
1013 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1014 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1018 @node The Server is Down
1019 @section The Server is Down
1020 @cindex server errors
1022 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1023 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1024 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1026 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1027 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1028 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1029 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1030 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1031 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1032 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1034 @findex gnus-no-server
1035 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1037 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1038 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1039 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1040 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1041 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1042 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1043 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1047 @section Slave Gnusae
1050 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1051 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1052 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1053 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1055 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1056 @code{.newsrc} file.
1058 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1059 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1060 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1061 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1062 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1063 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1064 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1066 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1067 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1068 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1069 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1070 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1071 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1072 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1073 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1075 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1076 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1079 @node Fetching a Group
1080 @section Fetching a Group
1081 @cindex fetching a group
1083 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1084 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1085 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1086 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1087 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1088 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1094 @cindex subscription
1096 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1097 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1098 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1099 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1100 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1101 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1102 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1103 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1104 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1107 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1108 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1109 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1113 @node Checking New Groups
1114 @subsection Checking New Groups
1116 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1117 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1118 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1119 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1120 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1121 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1122 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1123 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1124 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1125 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1127 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1128 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1129 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1130 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1131 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1132 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1133 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1134 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1135 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1136 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1137 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1139 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1140 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1141 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1142 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1143 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1144 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1147 @node Subscription Methods
1148 @subsection Subscription Methods
1150 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1151 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1152 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1154 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1155 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1157 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1161 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1162 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1163 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1164 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1165 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1167 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1168 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1169 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1170 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1172 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1173 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1174 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1176 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1177 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1178 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1179 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1180 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1181 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1182 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1183 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1184 up. Or something like that.
1186 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1187 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1188 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1189 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1190 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1192 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1193 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1194 Kill all new groups.
1196 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1197 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1198 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1199 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1200 topic parameter that looks like
1206 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1209 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1214 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1215 A closely related variable is
1216 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1217 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1218 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1219 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1222 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1223 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1224 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1225 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1228 @node Filtering New Groups
1229 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1231 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1232 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1233 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1236 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1240 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1241 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1242 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1243 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1244 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1245 subscribing these groups.
1246 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1247 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1249 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1250 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1251 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1252 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1253 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1254 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1255 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1256 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1258 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1259 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1260 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1261 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1262 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1263 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1264 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1265 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1266 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1267 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1269 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1270 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1273 @node Changing Servers
1274 @section Changing Servers
1275 @cindex changing servers
1277 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1278 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1279 very flaky and you want to use another.
1281 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1282 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1286 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1287 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1288 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1289 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1292 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1293 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1294 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1295 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1297 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1298 @findex gnus-change-server
1299 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1300 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1301 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1303 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1305 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1306 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1307 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1308 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1309 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1311 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1312 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1313 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1314 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1315 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1316 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1318 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1319 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1320 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1324 @section Startup Files
1325 @cindex startup files
1330 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1331 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1333 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1334 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1335 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1336 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1337 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1338 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1339 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1341 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1342 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1343 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1344 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1345 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1346 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1348 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1349 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1350 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1351 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1352 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1353 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1354 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1355 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1356 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1357 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1359 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1360 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1361 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1362 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1363 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1364 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1365 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1366 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1367 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1368 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1369 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1370 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1372 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1373 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1374 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1375 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1377 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1378 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1379 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1380 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1381 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1382 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1383 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1384 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1385 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1386 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1389 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1390 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1392 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1393 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1396 @vindex gnus-init-file
1397 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1398 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1399 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1400 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1401 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1402 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1403 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1404 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1405 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1411 @cindex dribble file
1414 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1415 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1416 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1417 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1418 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1421 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1422 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1425 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1426 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1427 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1429 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1430 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1431 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1432 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1433 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1434 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1436 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1437 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1438 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1441 @node The Active File
1442 @section The Active File
1444 @cindex ignored groups
1446 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1447 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1448 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1450 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1451 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1452 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1453 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1454 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1455 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1456 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1459 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1460 @c if you set it to anything else.
1462 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1464 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1465 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1466 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1468 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1469 you actually subscribe to.
1471 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1472 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1473 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1474 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1476 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1477 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1478 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1479 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1480 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1481 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1483 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1484 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1485 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1488 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1489 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1490 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1491 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1492 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1493 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1495 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1496 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1498 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1499 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1501 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1502 secondary select methods.
1505 @node Startup Variables
1506 @section Startup Variables
1510 @item gnus-load-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1512 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1513 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1514 times you start Gnus.
1516 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1517 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1518 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1520 @item gnus-startup-hook
1521 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1522 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1524 @item gnus-started-hook
1525 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1526 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1529 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1530 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1531 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1532 generating the group buffer.
1534 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1535 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1536 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1537 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1538 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1539 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1540 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1541 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1543 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1544 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1545 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1546 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1547 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1548 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1550 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1551 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1552 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1554 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1555 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1556 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1558 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1559 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1560 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1561 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1567 @chapter Group Buffer
1568 @cindex group buffer
1570 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1571 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1572 long as Gnus is active.
1576 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1577 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1578 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1579 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1580 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1581 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1582 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1583 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1589 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1590 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1591 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1592 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1593 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1594 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1595 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1596 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1597 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1598 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1599 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1600 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1601 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1602 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1603 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1604 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1605 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1609 @node Group Buffer Format
1610 @section Group Buffer Format
1613 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1614 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1615 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1619 @node Group Line Specification
1620 @subsection Group Line Specification
1621 @cindex group buffer format
1623 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1624 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1626 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1629 25: news.announce.newusers
1630 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1635 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1636 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1637 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1638 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1640 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1641 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1642 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1643 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1644 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1645 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1647 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1649 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1650 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1651 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1652 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1655 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1656 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1657 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1659 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1664 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1667 Whether the group is subscribed.
1670 Level of subscribedness.
1673 Number of unread articles.
1676 Number of dormant articles.
1679 Number of ticked articles.
1682 Number of read articles.
1685 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1686 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1689 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1692 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1701 Newsgroup description.
1704 @samp{m} if moderated.
1707 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1716 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1720 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1723 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1724 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1725 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1726 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1727 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1730 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1732 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1736 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1739 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1743 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1744 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1745 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1746 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1747 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1748 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1753 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1754 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1755 group, or a bogus native group.
1758 @node Group Modeline Specification
1759 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1760 @cindex group modeline
1762 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1763 The mode line can be changed by setting
1764 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1765 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1769 The native news server.
1771 The native select method.
1775 @node Group Highlighting
1776 @subsection Group Highlighting
1777 @cindex highlighting
1778 @cindex group highlighting
1780 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1781 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1782 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1783 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1784 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1786 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1790 (cond (window-system
1791 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1792 (defface my-group-face-1
1793 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1794 (defface my-group-face-2
1795 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1796 (defface my-group-face-3
1797 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1798 (defface my-group-face-4
1799 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1800 (defface my-group-face-5
1801 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1803 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1804 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1805 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1806 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1807 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1808 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1811 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1813 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1820 The number of unread articles in the group.
1824 Whether the group is a mail group.
1826 The level of the group.
1828 The score of the group.
1830 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1832 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1833 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1835 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1836 topic being inserted.
1839 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1840 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1841 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1843 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1844 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1845 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1846 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1847 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1850 @node Group Maneuvering
1851 @section Group Maneuvering
1852 @cindex group movement
1854 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1855 expected, hopefully.
1861 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1862 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1863 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1869 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1870 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1871 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1876 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1880 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1881 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1885 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1886 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1887 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1891 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1892 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1893 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1896 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1902 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1903 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1904 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1909 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1910 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1911 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1915 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1916 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1917 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1920 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1921 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1922 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1923 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1927 @node Selecting a Group
1928 @section Selecting a Group
1929 @cindex group selection
1934 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1935 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1936 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1937 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1938 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1939 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1940 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1941 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1942 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1943 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1945 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
1946 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
1947 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
1949 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
1950 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
1955 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1956 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1957 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1958 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1959 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1963 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1964 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1965 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1966 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1967 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1968 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1969 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1970 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1971 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1972 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1975 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1976 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1977 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1978 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1979 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1982 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1983 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1984 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1985 doing any processing of its contents
1986 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1987 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1988 manner will have no permanent effects.
1992 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1993 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1994 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1995 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1996 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1997 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1998 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1999 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2002 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2003 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2004 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2005 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2010 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2011 full summary buffer.
2014 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2017 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2022 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2023 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2024 Useful functions include:
2027 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2028 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2029 don't select the article.
2031 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2032 Select the first unread article.
2034 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2035 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2039 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2040 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2041 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2045 @node Subscription Commands
2046 @section Subscription Commands
2047 @cindex subscription
2055 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2056 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2057 Toggle subscription to the current group
2058 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2064 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2065 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2066 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2067 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2073 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2074 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2075 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2081 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2082 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2085 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2086 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2087 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2088 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2089 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2095 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2096 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2100 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2101 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2104 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2105 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2106 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2107 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2108 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2109 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2110 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2111 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2112 @file{.newsrc} file.
2116 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2126 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2127 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2128 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2129 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2130 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2131 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2136 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2137 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2138 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2142 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2143 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2144 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2146 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2147 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2148 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2149 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2150 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2151 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2158 @section Group Levels
2162 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2163 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2164 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2165 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2166 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2168 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2174 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2175 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2176 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2177 prompted for a level.
2180 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2181 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2182 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2183 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2184 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2185 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2186 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2187 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2188 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2189 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2190 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2191 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2192 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2193 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2194 reasons of efficiency.
2196 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2197 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2199 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2200 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2201 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2202 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2203 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2204 groups are hidden, in a way.
2206 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2207 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2208 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2209 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2210 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2211 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2213 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2214 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2215 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2216 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2217 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2218 list of killed groups.)
2220 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2221 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2222 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2224 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2225 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2226 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2227 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2228 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2229 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2230 relevant valid ranges.
2232 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2233 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2234 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2235 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2236 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2237 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2240 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2241 one with the best level.
2243 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2244 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2245 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2248 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2249 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2250 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2251 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2254 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2255 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2256 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2257 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2259 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2260 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2261 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2262 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2263 to 5. The default is 6.
2267 @section Group Score
2272 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2273 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2274 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2277 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2278 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2279 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2280 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2281 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2282 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2283 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2284 least significant part.))
2286 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2287 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2288 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2289 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2290 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2291 action after each summary exit, you can add
2292 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2293 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2294 slow things down somewhat.
2297 @node Marking Groups
2298 @section Marking Groups
2299 @cindex marking groups
2301 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2302 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2303 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2304 bidding on those groups.
2306 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2307 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2308 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2316 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2317 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2323 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2324 Remove the mark from the current group
2325 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2329 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2330 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2334 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2335 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2339 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2340 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2344 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2345 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2346 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2349 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2351 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2352 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2353 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2354 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2355 the command to be executed.
2358 @node Foreign Groups
2359 @section Foreign Groups
2360 @cindex foreign groups
2362 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2363 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2364 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2365 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2372 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2373 @cindex making groups
2374 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2375 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2376 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2380 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2381 @cindex renaming groups
2382 Rename the current group to something else
2383 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2384 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2390 @findex gnus-group-customize
2391 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2395 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2396 @cindex renaming groups
2397 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2398 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2402 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2403 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2404 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2408 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2409 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2410 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2414 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2416 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2417 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2422 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2423 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2427 @cindex (ding) archive
2428 @cindex archive group
2429 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2430 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2431 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2432 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2433 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2434 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2435 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2439 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2441 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2442 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2443 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2444 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2448 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2450 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2451 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2452 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2456 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2457 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2459 Make a group based on some file or other
2460 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2461 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2462 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2463 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2464 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2465 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2466 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2470 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2471 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2472 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2473 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2482 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2483 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2484 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2485 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2486 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2487 @xref{Web Searches}.
2489 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2490 to a particular group by using a match string like
2491 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2494 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2495 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2496 This function will delete the current group
2497 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2498 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2499 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2500 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2501 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2505 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2506 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2507 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2511 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2512 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2513 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2516 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2519 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2520 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2521 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2522 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2523 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2524 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2528 @node Group Parameters
2529 @section Group Parameters
2530 @cindex group parameters
2532 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2533 Here's an example group parameter list:
2536 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2540 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2541 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2542 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2543 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2545 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2546 is an alist of regexps and values.
2548 The following group parameters can be used:
2553 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2556 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2559 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2560 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2561 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2562 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2563 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2565 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2566 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2567 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2568 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2569 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2570 list address instead.
2572 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2576 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2579 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2582 It is totally ignored
2583 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2584 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2586 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2587 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2588 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2589 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2590 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2592 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2593 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2594 sending the message.
2596 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2600 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2601 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2602 of whether it has any unread articles.
2604 @item broken-reply-to
2605 @cindex broken-reply-to
2606 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2607 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2608 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2609 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2610 broken behavior. So there!
2614 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2615 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2619 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2620 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2621 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2626 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2627 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2628 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2629 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2630 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2631 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2632 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2636 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2637 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2638 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2640 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2643 @cindex total-expire
2644 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2645 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2646 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2647 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2650 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2654 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2655 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2656 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2657 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2658 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2659 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2662 @cindex score file group parameter
2663 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2664 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2665 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2668 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2669 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2670 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2671 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2674 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2675 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2676 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2677 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2680 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2681 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2685 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2688 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2693 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2694 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2695 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2699 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2700 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2701 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2703 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2705 @item ignored-charsets
2706 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-known iso-8859-1)}
2707 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2708 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2710 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2713 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2714 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2715 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2716 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2717 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2719 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2720 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2721 like this in the group parameters:
2726 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2730 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2731 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2732 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2733 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2734 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2736 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2737 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2738 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2739 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2740 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2741 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2742 @code{eval}ed there.
2744 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2745 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2746 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2747 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2748 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2752 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2753 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2754 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2755 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2756 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2759 @node Listing Groups
2760 @section Listing Groups
2761 @cindex group listing
2763 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2771 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2772 List all groups that have unread articles
2773 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2774 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2775 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2776 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2783 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2784 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2785 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2786 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2787 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2788 unsubscribed groups).
2792 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2793 List all unread groups on a specific level
2794 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2795 with no unread articles.
2799 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2800 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2801 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2802 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2807 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2808 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2812 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2813 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2814 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2818 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2819 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2823 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2824 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2825 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2826 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2827 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2828 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2829 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2830 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2834 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2835 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2836 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2840 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2841 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2842 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2846 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2847 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2851 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2852 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2856 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2857 List groups limited within the current selection
2858 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
2862 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
2863 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
2867 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
2868 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
2872 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2873 @cindex visible group parameter
2874 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2875 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2876 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2877 get the same effect.
2879 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2880 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2881 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2882 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2883 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2886 @node Sorting Groups
2887 @section Sorting Groups
2888 @cindex sorting groups
2890 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2891 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2892 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2893 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2894 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2895 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2900 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2901 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2902 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2904 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2905 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2906 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2908 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2909 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2910 Sort by group level.
2912 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2914 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2916 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2917 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2918 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2919 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2921 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2922 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2923 Sort by number of unread articles.
2925 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2926 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2927 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2929 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
2930 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
2931 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
2936 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2937 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2941 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2942 some sorting criteria:
2946 @kindex G S a (Group)
2947 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2948 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2949 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2952 @kindex G S u (Group)
2953 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2954 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2955 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2958 @kindex G S l (Group)
2959 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2960 Sort the group buffer by group level
2961 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2964 @kindex G S v (Group)
2965 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2966 Sort the group buffer by group score
2967 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2970 @kindex G S r (Group)
2971 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2972 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2973 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2976 @kindex G S m (Group)
2977 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2978 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2979 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2983 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2984 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2986 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2987 commands will sort in reverse order.
2989 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2993 @kindex G P a (Group)
2994 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2995 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2996 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2999 @kindex G P u (Group)
3000 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3001 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3002 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3005 @kindex G P l (Group)
3006 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3007 Sort the groups by group level
3008 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3011 @kindex G P v (Group)
3012 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3013 Sort the groups by group score
3014 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3017 @kindex G P r (Group)
3018 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3019 Sort the groups by group rank
3020 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3023 @kindex G P m (Group)
3024 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3025 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
3026 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3030 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3034 @node Group Maintenance
3035 @section Group Maintenance
3036 @cindex bogus groups
3041 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3042 Find bogus groups and delete them
3043 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3047 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3048 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3049 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3050 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3051 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3055 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3056 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3057 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3058 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3059 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3060 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3063 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3064 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3065 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3066 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3071 @node Browse Foreign Server
3072 @section Browse Foreign Server
3073 @cindex foreign servers
3074 @cindex browsing servers
3079 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3080 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3081 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3082 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3085 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3086 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3087 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3088 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3090 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3095 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3096 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3100 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3101 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3104 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3105 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3106 Enter the current group and display the first article
3107 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3110 @kindex RET (Browse)
3111 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3112 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3116 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3117 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3118 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3124 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3125 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3129 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3130 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3131 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3136 @section Exiting Gnus
3137 @cindex exiting Gnus
3139 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3144 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3145 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3146 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3147 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3151 @findex gnus-group-exit
3152 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3153 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3157 @findex gnus-group-quit
3158 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3159 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3162 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3163 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3164 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3165 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3166 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3171 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3172 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3173 trying to customize meta-variables.
3178 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3179 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3180 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3186 @section Group Topics
3189 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3190 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3191 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3192 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3193 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3194 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3198 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3199 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3210 2: alt.religion.emacs
3213 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3215 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3216 13: comp.sources.unix
3219 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3221 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3222 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3223 is a toggling command.)
3225 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3226 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3227 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3228 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3231 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3232 the hook for the group mode:
3235 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3239 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3240 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3241 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3242 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3243 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3247 @node Topic Variables
3248 @subsection Topic Variables
3249 @cindex topic variables
3251 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3252 really neat, I think.
3254 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3255 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3256 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3269 Number of groups in the topic.
3271 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3273 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3276 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3277 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3278 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3281 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3282 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3284 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3285 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3286 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3289 @node Topic Commands
3290 @subsection Topic Commands
3291 @cindex topic commands
3293 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3294 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3295 definitions slightly.
3301 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3302 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3303 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3307 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3308 Move the current group to some other topic
3309 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3310 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3314 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3315 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3319 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3320 Copy the current group to some other topic
3321 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3322 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3326 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3327 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3328 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3332 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3333 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3334 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3338 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3339 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3340 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3341 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3342 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3343 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3344 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3347 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3348 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3352 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3353 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3354 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3358 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3359 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3360 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3364 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3365 Toggle hiding empty topics
3366 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3370 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3371 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3372 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3375 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3376 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3377 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3378 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3382 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3384 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3385 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3386 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3387 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3390 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3391 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3392 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3393 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3397 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3399 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3400 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3401 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3402 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3403 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3404 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3407 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3408 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3409 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3410 expiry process (if any)
3411 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3415 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3416 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3417 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3421 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3422 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3423 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3428 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3429 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3432 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3433 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3434 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3438 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3439 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3440 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3444 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3445 @cindex group parameters
3446 @cindex topic parameters
3448 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3449 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3455 @subsection Topic Sorting
3456 @cindex topic sorting
3458 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3464 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3465 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3466 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3467 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3470 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3471 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3472 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3473 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3476 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3477 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3478 Sort the current topic by group level
3479 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3482 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3483 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3484 Sort the current topic by group score
3485 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3488 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3489 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3490 Sort the current topic by group rank
3491 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3494 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3495 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3496 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3497 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3501 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3504 @node Topic Topology
3505 @subsection Topic Topology
3506 @cindex topic topology
3509 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3515 2: alt.religion.emacs
3518 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3520 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3521 13: comp.sources.unix
3524 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3525 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3526 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3531 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3532 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3536 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3537 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3538 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3539 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3540 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3541 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3543 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3544 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3545 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3548 @node Topic Parameters
3549 @subsection Topic Parameters
3550 @cindex topic parameters
3552 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3553 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3554 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3556 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3561 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3562 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3563 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3568 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3569 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3570 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3571 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3577 2: alt.religion.emacs
3581 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3583 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3584 13: comp.sources.unix
3588 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3589 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3590 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3591 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3592 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3593 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3595 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3596 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3597 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3598 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3599 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3601 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3602 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3603 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3604 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3605 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3606 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3607 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3608 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3611 @node Misc Group Stuff
3612 @section Misc Group Stuff
3615 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3616 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3617 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3618 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3625 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3626 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3627 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3631 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3632 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3633 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3637 @findex gnus-group-mail
3638 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3642 Variables for the group buffer:
3646 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3647 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3648 is called after the group buffer has been
3651 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3652 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3653 is called after the group buffer is
3654 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3657 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3658 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3659 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3660 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3662 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3663 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3664 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3665 whether they are empty or not.
3667 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3668 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3669 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3670 non-ASCII group names.
3674 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3675 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3678 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3679 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3680 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3681 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3685 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3686 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3691 @node Scanning New Messages
3692 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3693 @cindex new messages
3694 @cindex scanning new news
3700 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3701 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3702 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3703 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3704 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3705 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3710 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3711 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3712 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3713 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3714 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3715 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3716 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3718 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3719 @cindex activating groups
3721 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3722 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3727 @findex gnus-group-restart
3728 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3729 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3730 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3734 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3735 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3737 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3738 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3742 @node Group Information
3743 @subsection Group Information
3744 @cindex group information
3745 @cindex information on groups
3752 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3753 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3756 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3757 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3758 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3759 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3760 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3761 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3762 for fetching the file.
3764 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3765 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3769 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3771 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3772 @cindex describing groups
3773 @cindex group description
3774 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3775 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3776 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3780 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3781 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3782 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3789 @findex gnus-version
3790 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3794 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3795 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3798 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3801 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3802 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3806 @node Group Timestamp
3807 @subsection Group Timestamp
3809 @cindex group timestamps
3811 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3812 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3813 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3816 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3819 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3821 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3822 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3825 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3826 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3829 This will result in lines looking like:
3832 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3833 0: custom 19961002T012713
3836 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3837 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3841 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3842 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3847 @subsection File Commands
3848 @cindex file commands
3854 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3855 @vindex gnus-init-file
3856 @cindex reading init file
3857 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3858 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3862 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3863 @cindex saving .newsrc
3864 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3865 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3866 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3869 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3870 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3871 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3876 @node Summary Buffer
3877 @chapter Summary Buffer
3878 @cindex summary buffer
3880 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3881 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3883 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3884 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3886 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3889 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3890 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3891 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3892 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3893 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3894 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3895 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3896 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3897 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3898 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3899 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3900 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3901 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3902 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3903 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3904 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3905 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3906 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3907 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3908 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3909 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3910 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3911 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3912 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3913 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3914 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
3915 or reselecting the current group.
3916 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3917 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3918 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
3922 @node Summary Buffer Format
3923 @section Summary Buffer Format
3924 @cindex summary buffer format
3928 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3929 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3930 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3936 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3937 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3938 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3939 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3942 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3943 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3944 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3945 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3946 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3947 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3948 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3949 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3950 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3951 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3952 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3955 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3956 'mail-extract-address-components)
3959 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3960 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3961 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3962 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3965 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3966 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3968 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3969 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3970 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3971 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3972 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3974 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
3975 the colon after performing an operation.
3977 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3979 The following format specification characters are understood:
3985 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3986 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3988 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3989 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3990 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3992 Full @code{From} header.
3994 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3996 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3997 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3999 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4000 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4001 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4002 may be more thorough.
4004 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4007 Number of lines in the article.
4009 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
4010 methods (like nnfolder).
4012 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4014 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4015 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4017 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4018 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4020 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4021 for adopted articles.
4023 One space for each thread level.
4025 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4030 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4031 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4035 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4037 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4038 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4039 default level. If the difference between
4040 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4041 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4049 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4051 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4057 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4058 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4060 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4061 article has any children.
4067 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4068 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4069 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4070 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4071 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4072 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4075 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4076 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4077 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4078 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4079 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4080 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4082 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4083 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4085 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4088 @node To From Newsgroups
4089 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4093 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4094 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4095 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4096 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4097 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4101 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4102 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4103 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4107 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4108 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4111 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4112 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4115 @findex gnus-extra-header
4116 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4117 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4118 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4121 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4125 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4126 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4127 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4128 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4129 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4130 headers are used instead.
4134 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4135 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4136 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4137 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4140 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4141 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4142 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4143 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4145 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4149 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4151 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4152 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4153 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4154 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4158 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4159 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4166 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4167 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4170 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4171 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4173 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4174 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4175 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4176 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4178 Here are the elements you can play with:
4184 Unprefixed group name.
4186 Current article number.
4188 Current article score.
4192 Number of unread articles in this group.
4194 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4197 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4198 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4199 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4200 and no unselected ones.
4202 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4203 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4205 Subject of the current article.
4207 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4209 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4211 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4213 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4215 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4217 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4221 @node Summary Highlighting
4222 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4226 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4227 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4228 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4229 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4230 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4232 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4233 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4234 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4235 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4237 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4238 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4239 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4240 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4242 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4243 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4244 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4245 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4246 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4247 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4250 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4251 ((> score default) . bold))
4253 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4254 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4258 @node Summary Maneuvering
4259 @section Summary Maneuvering
4260 @cindex summary movement
4262 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4263 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4265 None of these commands select articles.
4270 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4271 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4272 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4273 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4274 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4278 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4279 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4280 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4281 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4282 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4285 @kindex G g (Summary)
4286 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4287 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4288 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4291 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4292 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4293 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4294 to the group buffer.
4296 Variables related to summary movement:
4300 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4301 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4302 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4303 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4304 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4305 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4306 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4307 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4308 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4309 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4310 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4311 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4312 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4313 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4315 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4316 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4317 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4318 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4319 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4320 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4321 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4323 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4325 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4326 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4327 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4328 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4329 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4331 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4332 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4333 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4334 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4335 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4336 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4337 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4338 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4341 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4342 the given number of lines from the top.
4347 @node Choosing Articles
4348 @section Choosing Articles
4349 @cindex selecting articles
4352 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4353 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4357 @node Choosing Commands
4358 @subsection Choosing Commands
4360 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4361 and they all select and display an article.
4363 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4364 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4368 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4369 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4370 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4371 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4376 @kindex G n (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4378 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4379 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4384 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4385 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4386 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4391 @kindex G N (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4393 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4398 @kindex G P (Summary)
4399 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4400 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4403 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4405 Go to the next article with the same subject
4406 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4409 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4410 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4411 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4412 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4416 @kindex G f (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4419 Go to the first unread article
4420 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4424 @kindex G b (Summary)
4426 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4427 Go to the article with the highest score
4428 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4433 @kindex G l (Summary)
4434 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4435 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4438 @kindex G o (Summary)
4439 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4441 @cindex article history
4442 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4443 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4444 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4445 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4446 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4447 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4452 @kindex G j (Summary)
4453 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4454 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4455 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4460 @node Choosing Variables
4461 @subsection Choosing Variables
4463 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4466 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4467 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4468 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4469 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4470 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4471 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4473 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4474 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4475 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4476 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4478 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4479 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4480 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4481 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4482 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4483 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4484 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4485 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4486 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4487 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4488 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4489 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4490 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4491 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4496 @node Paging the Article
4497 @section Scrolling the Article
4498 @cindex article scrolling
4503 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4504 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4505 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4506 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4507 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4510 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4511 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4512 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4515 @kindex RET (Summary)
4516 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4517 Scroll the current article one line forward
4518 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4521 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4523 Scroll the current article one line backward
4524 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4528 @kindex A g (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4531 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4532 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4533 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4534 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4535 the way it came from the server.
4537 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4538 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4539 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4542 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4547 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4552 @kindex A < (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4554 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4555 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4560 @kindex A > (Summary)
4561 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4562 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4566 @kindex A s (Summary)
4568 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4569 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4570 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4574 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4575 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4580 @node Reply Followup and Post
4581 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4584 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4585 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4586 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4587 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4591 @node Summary Mail Commands
4592 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4594 @cindex composing mail
4596 Commands for composing a mail message:
4602 @kindex S r (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4605 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4606 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4607 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4608 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4613 @kindex S R (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4615 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4616 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4617 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4618 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4621 @kindex S w (Summary)
4622 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4623 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4624 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4625 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4626 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4629 @kindex S W (Summary)
4630 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4631 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4632 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4633 the process/prefix convention.
4636 @kindex S v (Summary)
4637 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4638 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4639 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4640 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4641 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4642 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4645 @kindex S W (Summary)
4646 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4647 Mail a very wide reply to the current article and include the original
4648 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4649 the process/prefix convention.
4653 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4654 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4656 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4657 Forward the current article to some other person
4658 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4659 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4660 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4661 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4662 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4663 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4664 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4665 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4666 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4671 @kindex S m (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4673 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4674 Send a mail to some other person
4675 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4678 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4680 @cindex bouncing mail
4681 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4682 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4683 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4684 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4685 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4686 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4687 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4688 very well fail, though.
4691 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4692 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4693 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4694 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4695 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4696 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4697 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4698 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4699 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4700 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4702 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4703 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4704 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4705 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4706 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4708 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4709 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4712 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4713 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4714 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4715 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4716 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4719 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4721 @cindex crossposting
4722 @cindex excessive crossposting
4723 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4724 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4726 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4727 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4728 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4729 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4730 command understands the process/prefix convention
4731 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4735 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4738 @node Summary Post Commands
4739 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4741 @cindex composing news
4743 Commands for posting a news article:
4749 @kindex S p (Summary)
4750 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4751 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4752 Post an article to the current group
4753 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4758 @kindex S f (Summary)
4759 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4760 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4761 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4765 @kindex S F (Summary)
4767 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4768 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4769 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4770 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4771 process/prefix convention.
4774 @kindex S n (Summary)
4775 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4776 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4777 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4780 @kindex S N (Summary)
4781 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4782 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4783 message through mail and include the original message
4784 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4785 the process/prefix convention.
4788 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4789 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4790 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4791 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4792 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4793 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4794 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4795 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4796 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4797 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4798 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4799 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4800 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4803 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4804 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4806 @cindex making digests
4807 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4808 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4809 process/prefix convention.
4812 @kindex S u (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4814 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4815 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4816 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4819 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4822 @node Summary Message Commands
4823 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4827 @kindex S y (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4829 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4830 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4831 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4832 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4837 @node Canceling and Superseding
4838 @subsection Canceling Articles
4839 @cindex canceling articles
4840 @cindex superseding articles
4842 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4843 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4845 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4847 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4849 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4850 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4851 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4852 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4853 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4854 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4856 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4857 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4860 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4861 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4862 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4864 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4865 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4866 your original article.
4868 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4870 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4871 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4872 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4875 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4876 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4877 have posted almost the same article twice.
4879 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4880 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4881 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4882 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4883 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4884 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4885 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4886 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4887 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4888 canceled/superseded.
4890 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4893 @node Marking Articles
4894 @section Marking Articles
4895 @cindex article marking
4896 @cindex article ticking
4899 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4901 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4902 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4903 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4905 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4908 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4909 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4910 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4914 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4918 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4919 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4920 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4924 @node Unread Articles
4925 @subsection Unread Articles
4927 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4932 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4933 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4935 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4936 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4937 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4938 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
4939 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
4940 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
4941 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
4944 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4945 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4947 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4948 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4949 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4950 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
4954 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4955 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4957 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4962 @subsection Read Articles
4963 @cindex expirable mark
4965 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4970 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4971 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4972 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4975 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4976 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4979 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4980 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4981 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4984 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4985 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4988 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4989 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4992 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4993 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4996 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4997 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5000 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5001 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5004 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5005 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5008 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5009 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5013 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5014 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5015 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5019 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5020 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5022 One more special mark, though:
5026 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5027 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5029 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5030 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5031 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5032 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5038 @subsection Other Marks
5039 @cindex process mark
5042 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5048 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5049 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5050 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5051 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5052 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5055 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5056 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5057 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5058 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5060 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5061 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{O} in
5062 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5065 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5066 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5067 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5070 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5071 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5072 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5073 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5076 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5077 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5078 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5079 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5080 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5083 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5084 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5085 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5086 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5087 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5088 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5092 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5093 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5094 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5096 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5097 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5098 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5102 @subsection Setting Marks
5103 @cindex setting marks
5105 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5110 @kindex M c (Summary)
5111 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5113 @cindex mark as unread
5114 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5121 @kindex M t (Summary)
5122 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5123 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5124 @xref{Article Caching}.
5129 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5131 Mark the current article as dormant
5132 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5136 @kindex M d (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5139 Mark the current article as read
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5144 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5145 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5151 @kindex M k (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5153 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5154 and then select the next unread article
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5159 @kindex M K (Summary)
5160 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5162 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5163 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5166 @kindex M C (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5169 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5172 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5174 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5175 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5178 @kindex M H (Summary)
5179 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5180 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5181 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5184 @kindex M h (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5186 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5187 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5190 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5192 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5193 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5196 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5198 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5199 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5203 @kindex M e (Summary)
5205 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5206 Mark the current article as expirable
5207 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5210 @kindex M b (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5212 Set a bookmark in the current article
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5216 @kindex M B (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5218 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5222 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5224 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5225 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5228 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5230 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5231 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5234 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5235 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5236 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5237 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5238 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5241 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5242 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5243 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5244 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5245 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5246 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5247 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5248 The default is @code{t}.
5251 @node Generic Marking Commands
5252 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5254 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5255 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5256 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5257 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5258 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5261 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5262 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5265 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5266 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5267 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5268 to list in this manual.
5270 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5271 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5272 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5273 article, you could say something like:
5276 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5277 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5278 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5284 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5285 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5289 @node Setting Process Marks
5290 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5291 @cindex setting process marks
5298 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5299 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5300 Mark the current article with the process mark
5301 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5302 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5306 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5307 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5308 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5309 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5312 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5314 Remove the process mark from all articles
5315 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5318 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5320 Invert the list of process marked articles
5321 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5324 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5325 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5326 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5327 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5330 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5331 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5332 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5333 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5336 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5337 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5338 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5341 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5342 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5343 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5344 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5347 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5349 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5350 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5353 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5355 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5356 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5359 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5361 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5364 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5365 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5366 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5367 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5370 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5371 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5372 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5375 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5376 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5377 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5378 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5381 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5383 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5384 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5387 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5389 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5393 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5394 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5395 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5396 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5400 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5401 set process marks based on article body contents.
5408 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5409 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5410 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5413 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5414 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5415 additional articles.
5421 @kindex / / (Summary)
5422 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5423 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5424 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5427 @kindex / a (Summary)
5428 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5429 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5430 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5433 @kindex / x (Summary)
5434 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5435 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5436 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5437 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5441 @kindex / u (Summary)
5443 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5444 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5445 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5446 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5447 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5450 @kindex / m (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5452 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5453 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5456 @kindex / t (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5458 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5460 articles younger than that number of days.
5463 @kindex / n (Summary)
5464 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5465 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5466 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5467 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5470 @kindex / w (Summary)
5471 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5472 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5473 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5477 @kindex / v (Summary)
5478 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5479 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5480 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5484 @kindex M S (Summary)
5485 @kindex / E (Summary)
5486 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5487 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5488 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5491 @kindex / D (Summary)
5492 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5493 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5494 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5497 @kindex / * (Summary)
5498 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5499 Include all cached articles in the limit
5500 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5503 @kindex / d (Summary)
5504 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5505 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5506 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5509 @kindex / M (Summary)
5510 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5511 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5514 @kindex / T (Summary)
5515 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5516 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5519 @kindex / c (Summary)
5520 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5521 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5522 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5525 @kindex / C (Summary)
5526 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5527 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5528 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5529 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5537 @cindex article threading
5539 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5540 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5541 hierarchical fashion.
5543 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5544 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5545 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5546 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5547 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5548 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5549 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5551 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5555 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5558 A tree-like article structure.
5561 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5564 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5565 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5566 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5567 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5568 called loose threads.
5570 @item thread gathering
5571 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5573 @item sparse threads
5574 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5575 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5581 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5582 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5586 @node Customizing Threading
5587 @subsection Customizing Threading
5588 @cindex customizing threading
5591 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5592 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5593 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5594 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5599 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5602 @cindex loose threads
5605 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5606 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5607 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5608 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5609 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5610 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5612 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5613 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5614 There are four possible values:
5618 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5619 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5620 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5621 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5622 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5627 @cindex adopting articles
5632 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5633 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5634 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5635 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5638 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5639 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5640 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5641 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5642 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5643 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5644 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5647 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5648 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5649 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5653 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5654 display them after one another.
5657 Don't gather loose threads.
5660 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5661 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5662 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5663 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5664 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5665 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5666 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5667 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5668 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5669 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5670 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5672 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5673 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5674 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5677 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5678 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5679 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5680 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5681 simplification is used.
5683 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5684 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5685 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5686 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5688 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5690 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5696 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5697 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5698 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5699 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5704 (mapconcat 'identity
5705 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5707 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5710 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5713 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5714 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5715 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5716 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5717 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5718 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5720 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5723 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5724 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5725 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5727 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5728 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5731 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5732 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5733 Remove excessive whitespace.
5736 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5739 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5740 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5741 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5742 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5743 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5744 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5745 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5746 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5748 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5749 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5750 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5751 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5752 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5753 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5754 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5755 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5756 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5760 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5761 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5762 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5763 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5765 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5766 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5767 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5770 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5774 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5775 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5781 @node Filling In Threads
5782 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5785 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5786 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5787 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5788 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5789 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5790 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5791 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5792 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5793 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5794 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5795 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5796 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5798 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5799 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5800 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5802 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5803 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5804 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5805 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5806 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5807 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5808 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5809 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5810 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5811 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5812 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5813 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5814 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5815 @code{nil} by default.
5817 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
5818 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
5819 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
5820 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the backend has to fetch
5821 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
5822 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
5823 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
5825 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
5826 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
5827 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
5832 @node More Threading
5833 @subsubsection More Threading
5836 @item gnus-show-threads
5837 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5838 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5839 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5840 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5841 slower and more awkward.
5843 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5844 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5845 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5848 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5849 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5850 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5851 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5852 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5853 threads are expunged.
5855 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5856 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5857 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5860 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5861 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5862 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5863 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
5864 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
5865 result in a new thread.
5867 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5868 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5869 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5872 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5873 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5874 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5875 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5876 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5877 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5878 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5879 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5880 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5881 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5882 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5887 @node Low-Level Threading
5888 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5892 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5893 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5894 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5896 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5897 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5898 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5899 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5900 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5901 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5902 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5903 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5904 meaningful. Here's one example:
5907 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5909 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5910 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5912 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5914 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5921 @node Thread Commands
5922 @subsection Thread Commands
5923 @cindex thread commands
5929 @kindex T k (Summary)
5930 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5931 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5932 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5933 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5934 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5939 @kindex T l (Summary)
5940 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5942 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5946 @kindex T i (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5948 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5949 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5952 @kindex T # (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5954 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5955 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5958 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5960 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5961 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5964 @kindex T T (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5966 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5969 @kindex T s (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5971 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5972 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5975 @kindex T h (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5977 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5980 @kindex T S (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5982 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5985 @kindex T H (Summary)
5986 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5987 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5990 @kindex T t (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5992 Re-thread the current article's thread
5993 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5994 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5997 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5998 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5999 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6000 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6004 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6005 understand the numeric prefix.
6010 @kindex T n (Summary)
6012 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
6014 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6015 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6016 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6019 @kindex T p (Summary)
6021 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
6023 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6025 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6028 @kindex T d (Summary)
6029 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6030 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6033 @kindex T u (Summary)
6034 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6035 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6038 @kindex T o (Summary)
6039 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6040 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6043 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6044 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6045 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6046 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6047 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6048 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6049 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6050 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6051 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6052 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6053 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6054 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6058 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6059 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6061 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6062 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6063 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6064 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6065 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6066 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6067 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6068 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6069 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6070 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6071 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6073 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6074 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6075 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6076 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6077 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6079 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6080 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6081 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6083 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6084 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6085 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6086 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6087 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6088 ascending article order.
6090 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6091 by number, you could do something like:
6094 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6095 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6096 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6097 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6100 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6101 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6102 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6103 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6104 which the articles arrived.
6106 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6110 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6112 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6113 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6116 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6117 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6118 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6119 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6122 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6123 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6124 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6125 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6126 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6127 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6128 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6129 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6130 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6131 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6132 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6133 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6134 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6136 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6140 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6141 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6142 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6147 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6148 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6149 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6150 @cindex article pre-fetch
6153 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6154 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6155 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6156 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6157 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6159 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6160 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6162 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6163 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6164 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6165 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6166 connection is blocked.
6168 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6169 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6170 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6171 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6173 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6174 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6175 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6176 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6179 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6182 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6183 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6184 happen automatically.
6186 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6187 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6188 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6189 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6190 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6191 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6192 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6194 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6195 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6196 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6197 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6198 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6199 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6200 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6201 data structure as the only parameter.
6203 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6206 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6207 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6208 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6209 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6212 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6215 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6216 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6217 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6219 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6220 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6221 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6222 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6226 Remove articles when they are read.
6229 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6232 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6234 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6235 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6236 @c from the next group.
6239 @node Article Caching
6240 @section Article Caching
6241 @cindex article caching
6244 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6245 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6246 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6247 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6248 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6250 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6252 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6253 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6254 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6255 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6256 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6257 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6258 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6259 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6261 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6262 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6263 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6264 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6265 as dormant, and don't worry.
6267 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6269 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6270 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6271 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6272 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6273 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6274 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6275 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6276 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6277 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6278 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6280 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6281 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6282 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6283 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6284 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6285 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6286 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6287 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6288 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6289 not then be downloaded by this command.
6291 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6292 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6293 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6294 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6295 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6296 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6298 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6299 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6300 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6301 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6302 variables, the group is not cached.
6304 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6305 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6306 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6307 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6308 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6309 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6310 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6311 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6312 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6316 @node Persistent Articles
6317 @section Persistent Articles
6318 @cindex persistent articles
6320 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6321 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6322 useful in my opinion.
6324 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6325 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6326 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6327 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6328 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6329 the expiry going on at the news server.
6331 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6332 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6333 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6339 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6340 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6343 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6345 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6346 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6350 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6352 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6353 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6354 interested in persistent articles:
6357 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6361 @node Article Backlog
6362 @section Article Backlog
6364 @cindex article backlog
6366 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6367 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6368 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6369 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6370 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6371 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6372 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6373 increase memory usage some.
6375 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6376 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6377 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6378 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6379 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6380 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6381 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6383 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6386 @node Saving Articles
6387 @section Saving Articles
6388 @cindex saving articles
6390 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6391 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6392 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6393 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6394 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6396 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6397 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6398 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6400 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6401 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6402 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6403 deleted before saving.
6409 @kindex O o (Summary)
6411 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6412 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6413 Save the current article using the default article saver
6414 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6417 @kindex O m (Summary)
6418 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6419 Save the current article in mail format
6420 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6423 @kindex O r (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6425 Save the current article in rmail format
6426 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6429 @kindex O f (Summary)
6430 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6431 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6432 Save the current article in plain file format
6433 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6436 @kindex O F (Summary)
6437 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6438 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6439 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6442 @kindex O b (Summary)
6443 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6444 Save the current article body in plain file format
6445 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6448 @kindex O h (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6450 Save the current article in mh folder format
6451 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6454 @kindex O v (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6456 Save the current article in a VM folder
6457 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6460 @kindex O p (Summary)
6461 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6462 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6463 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6466 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6467 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6468 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6469 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6470 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6471 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6472 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6473 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6474 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6475 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6476 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6477 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6481 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6482 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6483 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6484 functions below, or you can create your own.
6488 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6489 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6490 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6491 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6492 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6493 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6494 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6496 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6497 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6498 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6499 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6500 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6501 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6503 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6504 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6505 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6506 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6507 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6508 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6509 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6511 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6512 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6513 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6514 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6515 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6517 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6518 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6519 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6520 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6521 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6524 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6525 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6526 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6527 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6528 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6530 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6531 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6532 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6533 reader to use this setting.
6536 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6537 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6538 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6539 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6542 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6543 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6544 available functions that generate names:
6548 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6549 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6550 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6552 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6553 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6554 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6556 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6557 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6558 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6560 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6561 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6562 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6564 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6565 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6566 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6569 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6570 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6571 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6572 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6573 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6577 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6578 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6579 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6580 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6583 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6584 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6585 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6586 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6587 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6588 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6589 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6590 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6591 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6593 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6594 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6595 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6596 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6598 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6599 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6600 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6603 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6604 lots of mail groups called things like
6605 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6606 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6607 following will do just that:
6610 (defun my-save-name (group)
6611 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6612 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6614 (setq gnus-split-methods
6615 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6620 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6621 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6622 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6623 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6624 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6625 all the files in the top level directory
6626 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6627 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6628 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6629 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6631 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6632 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6633 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6634 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6635 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6638 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6642 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6643 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
6644 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6647 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6648 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6649 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6650 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6653 @node Decoding Articles
6654 @section Decoding Articles
6655 @cindex decoding articles
6657 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6658 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6661 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6662 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6663 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6664 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6665 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6666 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6670 @cindex article series
6671 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6672 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6673 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6674 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6675 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6677 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6678 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6679 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6681 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6682 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6683 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6685 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6686 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6687 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6690 @node Uuencoded Articles
6691 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6693 @cindex uuencoded articles
6698 @kindex X u (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6700 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6701 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6704 @kindex X U (Summary)
6705 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6706 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6707 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6710 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6711 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6712 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6715 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6716 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6717 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6718 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6722 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6723 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6724 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6725 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6726 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6728 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6729 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6730 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6731 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6734 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6735 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6736 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6737 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6738 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6739 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6743 @node Shell Archives
6744 @subsection Shell Archives
6746 @cindex shell archives
6747 @cindex shared articles
6749 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6750 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6751 some commands to deal with these:
6756 @kindex X s (Summary)
6757 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6758 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6761 @kindex X S (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6763 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6766 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6767 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6768 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6771 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6772 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6773 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6774 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6778 @node PostScript Files
6779 @subsection PostScript Files
6785 @kindex X p (Summary)
6786 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6787 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6790 @kindex X P (Summary)
6791 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6792 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6793 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6796 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6797 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6798 View the current PostScript series
6799 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6802 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6803 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6804 View and save the current PostScript series
6805 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6810 @subsection Other Files
6814 @kindex X o (Summary)
6815 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6816 Save the current series
6817 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6820 @kindex X b (Summary)
6821 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6822 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6823 doesn't really work yet.
6827 @node Decoding Variables
6828 @subsection Decoding Variables
6830 Adjective, not verb.
6833 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6834 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6835 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6839 @node Rule Variables
6840 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6841 @cindex rule variables
6843 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6844 variables are of the form
6847 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6854 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6855 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6857 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6858 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6861 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6862 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6865 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6866 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6867 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6868 user and default view rules.
6870 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6871 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6872 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6877 @node Other Decode Variables
6878 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6881 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6883 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6884 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6885 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6886 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6887 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6891 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6892 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6895 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6896 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6897 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6900 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6901 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6902 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6903 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6904 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6907 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6908 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6909 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6911 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6912 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6913 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6914 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6915 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6918 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6919 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6920 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6922 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6923 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6924 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6925 looking for files to display.
6927 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6928 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6929 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6932 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6933 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6934 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6937 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6938 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6939 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6942 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6943 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6944 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6947 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6948 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6949 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6950 decoded articles as unread.
6952 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6953 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6954 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6955 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6957 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6958 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6959 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6961 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6962 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6964 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6965 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6966 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6967 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6969 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6970 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6971 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6972 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6973 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6974 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6975 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6976 simply dropped them.
6981 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6982 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6986 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6987 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6988 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6989 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6990 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6991 for you when you post the article.
6993 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6994 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6995 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6996 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6998 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6999 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7000 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7001 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7002 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7003 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7004 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7006 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7007 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7008 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7009 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7010 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7011 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7012 Default is @code{t}.
7018 @subsection Viewing Files
7019 @cindex viewing files
7020 @cindex pseudo-articles
7022 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7023 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7024 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7025 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7026 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7027 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7028 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7030 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7031 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7032 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7033 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7035 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7036 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7037 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7039 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7040 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7041 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7042 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7043 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7045 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7046 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7047 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7048 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7049 a list of parameters to that command.
7051 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7052 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7053 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7055 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7056 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7057 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7060 @node Article Treatment
7061 @section Article Treatment
7063 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7064 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7065 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7066 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7067 these articles easier.
7070 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7071 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7072 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7073 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7074 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7075 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7076 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7077 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7081 @node Article Highlighting
7082 @subsection Article Highlighting
7083 @cindex highlighting
7085 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7086 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7091 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7092 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7093 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7094 Do much highlighting of the current article
7095 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7096 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7099 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7100 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7101 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7102 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7103 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7104 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7105 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7106 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7107 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7108 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7109 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7110 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7113 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7114 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7115 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7117 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7120 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7122 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7123 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7124 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7126 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7127 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7128 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7130 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7131 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7132 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7133 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7134 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7135 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7137 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7138 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7139 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7141 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7142 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7143 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7145 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7146 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7147 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7148 that it's a citation.
7150 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7151 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7152 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7154 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7155 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7156 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7158 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7159 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7160 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7161 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7167 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7168 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7169 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7170 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7171 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7172 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7173 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7174 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7179 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7182 @node Article Fontisizing
7183 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7185 @cindex article emphasis
7187 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7188 @kindex W e (Summary)
7189 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7190 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7191 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7192 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7194 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7195 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7196 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7197 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7198 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7199 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7200 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7201 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7205 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7206 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7207 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7216 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7217 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7218 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7219 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7220 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7221 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7222 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7223 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7224 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7225 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7226 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7227 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7228 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7230 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7231 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7232 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7236 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7239 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7241 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7242 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7243 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7244 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7246 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7249 @node Article Hiding
7250 @subsection Article Hiding
7251 @cindex article hiding
7253 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7254 too much cruft in most articles.
7259 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7260 @findex gnus-article-hide
7261 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7262 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7263 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7266 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7267 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7268 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7272 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7274 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7275 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7278 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7280 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7284 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7285 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7286 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7287 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7288 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7289 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7290 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7291 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7295 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7296 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7297 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7298 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7303 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7305 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7306 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7307 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7308 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7309 articles that have signatures in them do:
7311 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7313 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7315 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7316 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7318 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7321 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7326 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7327 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7328 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7329 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7332 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7333 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7336 @cindex stripping advertisements
7337 @cindex advertisements
7338 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7339 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7340 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7341 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7342 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7343 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7344 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7345 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7346 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7347 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7351 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7352 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7353 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7354 customizing the hiding:
7358 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7359 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7360 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7361 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7362 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7363 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7364 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7369 Starting point of the hidden text.
7371 Ending point of the hidden text.
7373 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7375 Number of lines of hidden text.
7378 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7379 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7380 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7381 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7382 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7387 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7388 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7390 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7391 following two variables:
7394 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7395 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7396 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7397 50), hide the cited text.
7399 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7400 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7401 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7406 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7407 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7408 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7409 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7410 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7411 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7415 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7416 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7417 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7419 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7420 citation customization.
7422 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7426 @node Article Washing
7427 @subsection Article Washing
7429 @cindex article washing
7431 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7432 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7434 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7435 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7438 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7439 articles by default.
7444 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7445 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7449 @kindex W l (Summary)
7450 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7451 Remove page breaks from the current article
7452 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7456 @kindex W r (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7458 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7459 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7460 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7461 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7462 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7464 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7465 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7466 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7467 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7471 @kindex W t (Summary)
7473 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7474 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7475 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7478 @kindex W v (Summary)
7479 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7480 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7481 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7484 @kindex W o (Summary)
7485 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7486 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7489 @kindex W d (Summary)
7490 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7491 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7493 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7495 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7496 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7497 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7498 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7501 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7502 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7503 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7504 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7507 @kindex W w (Summary)
7508 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7509 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7511 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7515 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7516 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7517 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7520 @kindex W C (Summary)
7521 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7522 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7523 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7526 @kindex W c (Summary)
7527 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7528 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7529 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7530 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7531 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7534 @kindex W q (Summary)
7535 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7536 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7537 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7538 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7539 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7540 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7541 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7542 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7545 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7546 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7547 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7548 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7549 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7550 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7551 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7555 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7557 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7558 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7559 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7562 @kindex W h (Summary)
7563 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7564 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7565 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7566 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7570 @kindex W f (Summary)
7572 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7573 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7574 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7575 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7582 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7583 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7584 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7585 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7586 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7587 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7588 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7589 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7590 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7591 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7592 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7593 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7594 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7595 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7596 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7597 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7598 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7599 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7600 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7601 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7605 @kindex W b (Summary)
7606 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7607 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7608 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7611 @kindex W B (Summary)
7612 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7613 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7614 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7617 @kindex W p (Summary)
7618 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
7619 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
7620 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
7621 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
7622 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
7623 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
7624 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
7627 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7628 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7629 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7630 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7633 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7634 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7635 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7636 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7639 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7640 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7641 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7642 lines with a single empty line.
7643 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7646 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7647 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7648 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7649 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7652 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7653 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7654 Do all the three commands above
7655 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7658 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7659 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7660 Remove all blank lines
7661 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7664 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7665 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7666 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7667 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7670 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7672 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7673 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7677 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7680 @node Article Buttons
7681 @subsection Article Buttons
7684 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7685 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7686 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7687 button on these references.
7689 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7690 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7691 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7696 @item gnus-button-alist
7697 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7698 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7701 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7707 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7708 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7709 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7712 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7713 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7714 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7717 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7718 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7719 avoid false matches.
7722 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7725 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7726 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7730 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7733 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7736 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7737 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7738 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7739 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7740 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7743 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7746 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7748 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7749 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7750 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7751 default values of the variables above.
7753 @item gnus-article-button-face
7754 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7755 Face used on buttons.
7757 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7758 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7759 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7763 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7767 @subsection Article Date
7769 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7770 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7771 when the article was sent.
7776 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7777 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7778 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7779 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7782 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7783 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7785 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7786 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7789 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7791 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7794 @kindex W T p (Summary)
7795 @findex gnus-article-date-english
7796 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
7797 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
7800 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7801 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7802 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7803 @findex format-time-string
7804 Display the date using a user-defined format
7805 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7806 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7807 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7808 for a list of possible format specs.
7811 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7812 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7813 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7814 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7815 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7816 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7819 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
7822 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7823 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7826 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7827 into wonderful absurdities.
7829 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7832 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7835 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7836 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7840 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7841 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7842 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7843 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7844 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7845 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7846 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7850 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7851 preferred format automatically.
7854 @node Article Signature
7855 @subsection Article Signature
7857 @cindex article signature
7859 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7860 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7861 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7862 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7863 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7864 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7865 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7866 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7867 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7870 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7871 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7872 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7873 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7874 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7875 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7876 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7877 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7880 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7883 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7884 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7885 signature when displaying articles.
7889 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7892 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7895 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7896 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7898 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7899 in question is not a signature.
7902 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7903 listed above. Here's an example:
7906 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7907 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7910 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7911 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7912 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7913 signature after all.
7916 @node Article Miscellania
7917 @subsection Article Miscellania
7921 @kindex A t (Summary)
7922 @findex gnus-article-babel
7923 Translate the article from one language to another
7924 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7930 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7931 @cindex MIME decoding
7933 @cindex viewing attachments
7935 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7936 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7942 @kindex K v (Summary)
7943 View the @sc{mime} part.
7946 @kindex K o (Summary)
7947 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7950 @kindex K c (Summary)
7951 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7954 @kindex K e (Summary)
7955 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7958 @kindex K i (Summary)
7959 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7962 @kindex K | (Summary)
7963 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7966 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7971 @kindex K b (Summary)
7972 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7973 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7977 @kindex K m (Summary)
7978 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7979 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7980 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7981 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7982 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7985 @kindex X m (Summary)
7986 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7987 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7988 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7989 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7992 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7993 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7994 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7995 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7998 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7999 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8000 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8003 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8004 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8005 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8007 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8008 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8009 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8010 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8011 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8012 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8015 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8016 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8017 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8024 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8025 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8026 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8027 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8030 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8033 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8037 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8038 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8039 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8040 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8041 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
8043 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8044 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8045 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8046 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8047 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8048 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8049 save all jpegs into some directory).
8051 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8054 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8055 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8057 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8058 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8059 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8060 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8061 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8064 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8065 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8066 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8075 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8076 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8077 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8078 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8079 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8080 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8081 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8083 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8084 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8085 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match full group names) and
8086 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8088 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8089 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
8090 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8091 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8092 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
8093 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8094 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
8095 something some agents insist on having in there.
8097 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8098 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8099 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8100 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8101 quoted-printable header encoding.
8103 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8104 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8105 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8109 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8112 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8113 means encode all charsets),
8115 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8116 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8117 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8124 @cindex coding system aliases
8125 @cindex preferred charset
8127 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8129 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8130 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8133 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8134 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8137 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8138 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8140 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8143 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8146 This will almost do the right thing.
8148 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8152 (codepage-setup 1251)
8153 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8157 @node Article Commands
8158 @section Article Commands
8165 @kindex A P (Summary)
8166 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8167 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8168 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8169 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8170 run just before printing the buffer.
8175 @node Summary Sorting
8176 @section Summary Sorting
8177 @cindex summary sorting
8179 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8180 can't really see why you'd want that.
8185 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8186 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8187 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8190 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8191 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8192 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8195 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8197 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8200 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8201 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8202 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8205 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8206 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8207 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8210 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8211 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8212 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8215 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8216 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8217 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8220 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8221 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8222 Sort using the default sorting method
8223 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8226 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8227 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8228 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8229 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8230 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8234 @node Finding the Parent
8235 @section Finding the Parent
8236 @cindex parent articles
8237 @cindex referring articles
8242 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8243 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8244 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8245 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8246 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8247 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8248 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8249 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8250 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8252 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8253 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8254 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8255 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8256 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8260 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8261 @kindex A R (Summary)
8262 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8263 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8266 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8267 @kindex A T (Summary)
8268 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8269 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8270 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8271 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8272 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8273 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8274 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8276 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8277 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8278 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8279 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8280 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8281 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8284 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8285 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8287 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8288 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8289 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8290 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8291 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8292 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8293 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8296 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8297 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8298 by giving this command a prefix.
8300 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8301 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8302 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8303 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8304 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8305 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8308 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8309 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8310 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8313 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8314 then ask Deja if that fails:
8317 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8319 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8322 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8323 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8324 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8325 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8326 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8327 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8330 @node Alternative Approaches
8331 @section Alternative Approaches
8333 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8334 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8337 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8338 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8343 @subsection Pick and Read
8344 @cindex pick and read
8346 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8347 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8348 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8349 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8351 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8352 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8353 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8354 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8355 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8356 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8358 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8363 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8364 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8365 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8366 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8367 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8368 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8369 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8370 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8373 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8374 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8375 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8376 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8380 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8381 Unpick the thread or article
8382 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8383 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8384 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8385 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8386 the thread or article at that line.
8390 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8391 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8392 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8393 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8394 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8395 will still be visible when you are reading.
8399 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8400 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8401 which is mapped to the same function
8402 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8404 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8407 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8410 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8411 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8413 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8414 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8415 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8417 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8418 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8419 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8420 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8421 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8422 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8423 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8427 @subsection Binary Groups
8428 @cindex binary groups
8430 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8431 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8432 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8433 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8434 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8435 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8436 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8439 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8440 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8441 command, when you have turned on this mode
8442 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8444 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8445 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8449 @section Tree Display
8452 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8453 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8454 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8455 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8458 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8461 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8462 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8463 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8465 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8466 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8467 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8468 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8469 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8471 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8472 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8473 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8474 default is @code{modeline}.
8476 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8477 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8478 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8479 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8480 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8481 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8482 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8488 The name of the poster.
8490 The @code{From} header.
8492 The number of the article.
8494 The opening bracket.
8496 The closing bracket.
8501 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8503 Variables related to the display are:
8506 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8507 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8508 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8509 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8510 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8511 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8513 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8514 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8515 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8516 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8520 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8521 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8522 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8523 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8524 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8525 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8526 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8527 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8528 other windows displayed next to it.
8530 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8531 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8532 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8533 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8534 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8535 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8536 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8540 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8543 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8553 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8557 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8558 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8560 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8562 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8567 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8568 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8569 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8572 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8573 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8574 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8575 (gnus-add-configuration
8579 (summary 0.75 point)
8584 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8587 @node Mail Group Commands
8588 @section Mail Group Commands
8589 @cindex mail group commands
8591 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8592 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8594 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8595 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8600 @kindex B e (Summary)
8601 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8602 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
8603 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
8604 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
8605 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
8608 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8610 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8611 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8612 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8613 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8616 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8617 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8618 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8619 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8620 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8621 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8624 @kindex B m (Summary)
8626 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8627 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8628 Move the article from one mail group to another
8629 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8630 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8633 @kindex B c (Summary)
8635 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8636 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8637 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8638 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8639 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8642 @kindex B B (Summary)
8643 @cindex crosspost mail
8644 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8645 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8646 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8647 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8648 be properly updated.
8651 @kindex B i (Summary)
8652 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8653 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8654 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8655 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8658 @kindex B r (Summary)
8659 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8660 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8661 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8662 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8663 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8664 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8665 (which is the default).
8669 @kindex B w (Summary)
8671 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8672 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8673 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8674 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8675 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8676 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8679 @kindex B q (Summary)
8680 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8681 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8682 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8683 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8686 @kindex B t (Summary)
8687 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8688 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8689 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8692 @kindex B p (Summary)
8693 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8694 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8695 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8696 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8697 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8698 article from your news server (or rather, from
8699 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8700 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8701 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8702 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8703 just not have arrived yet.
8707 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8708 @cindex moving articles
8709 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8710 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8711 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8712 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8713 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
8714 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
8715 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
8718 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8719 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8720 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8721 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8725 @node Various Summary Stuff
8726 @section Various Summary Stuff
8729 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8730 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8731 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8732 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8736 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8737 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8738 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8740 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8741 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8742 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8743 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8744 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8745 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8748 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8749 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8750 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8751 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8752 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8754 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8755 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8756 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8759 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8760 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8761 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8762 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8763 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8764 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8765 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8766 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8767 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8768 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8770 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8771 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8772 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8773 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8774 list of articles to be selected.
8776 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8777 the list in one particular group:
8780 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8781 (if (string= group "some.group")
8782 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8789 @node Summary Group Information
8790 @subsection Summary Group Information
8795 @kindex H f (Summary)
8796 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8797 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8798 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8799 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8800 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8801 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8802 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8803 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8804 be used for fetching the file.
8807 @kindex H d (Summary)
8808 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8809 Give a brief description of the current group
8810 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8811 rereading the description from the server.
8814 @kindex H h (Summary)
8815 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8816 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8817 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8820 @kindex H i (Summary)
8821 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8822 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8826 @node Searching for Articles
8827 @subsection Searching for Articles
8832 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8833 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8834 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8835 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8838 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8840 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8841 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8845 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8846 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8847 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8848 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8849 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8850 search backward instead.
8852 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8853 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8856 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8857 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8858 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8859 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8862 @node Summary Generation Commands
8863 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8868 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8869 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8870 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8873 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8874 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8875 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8876 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8881 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8882 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8888 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8889 @kindex A D (Summary)
8890 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8891 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8892 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8893 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8894 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8895 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8896 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8897 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8901 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8902 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8903 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8904 several documents into one biiig group
8905 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8906 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8907 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8908 command understands the process/prefix convention
8909 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8912 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8913 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8914 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8915 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8916 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8917 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8921 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8922 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8923 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8926 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8927 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8928 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8929 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8932 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8933 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8934 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8935 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8940 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8941 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8942 @cindex summary exit
8943 @cindex exiting groups
8945 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8946 group and return you to the group buffer.
8952 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8954 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8955 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8956 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8957 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8958 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8959 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8960 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8961 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8962 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8963 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8964 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8968 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8970 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8971 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8972 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8976 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8979 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8980 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8981 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8984 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8985 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8986 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8987 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8990 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8991 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8992 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8993 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8996 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8997 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8998 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8999 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9000 all articles, both read and unread.
9004 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9005 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9006 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9007 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9008 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9009 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9010 articles, both read and unread.
9013 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9014 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9015 Exit the group and go to the next group
9016 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9019 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9020 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9021 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9022 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9025 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9026 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9027 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9028 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9029 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9030 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9033 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9034 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9035 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9036 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9038 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9039 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9040 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9041 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9042 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9043 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9044 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9045 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9046 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9047 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9048 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9049 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9051 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9053 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9054 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9055 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9056 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9057 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9058 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9059 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9060 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9061 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9064 @node Crosspost Handling
9065 @section Crosspost Handling
9069 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9070 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9071 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9072 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9073 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9074 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9077 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9078 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9079 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9080 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9081 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9083 @cindex cross-posting
9086 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9087 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9088 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9089 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9090 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9091 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9092 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9093 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9094 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9095 the cross reference mechanism.
9097 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9098 @cindex overview.fmt
9099 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9100 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9101 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9102 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9103 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9104 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9107 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9108 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9109 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9114 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9117 @node Duplicate Suppression
9118 @section Duplicate Suppression
9120 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9121 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9122 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9123 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9128 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9129 is evil and not very common.
9132 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9133 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9136 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9137 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9140 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9143 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9144 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9146 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9147 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9148 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9149 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9150 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9151 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9152 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9155 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9156 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9157 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9158 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9159 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9163 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9164 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9165 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9167 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9168 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9169 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9170 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9171 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9172 session are suppressed.
9174 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9175 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9176 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9177 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9179 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9180 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9181 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9182 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9185 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9186 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9187 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9188 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9189 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9190 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9191 to you to figure out, I think.
9196 Gnus is able to verify PGP or S/MIME signed messages or decrypt PGP
9201 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9207 @item mm-verify-option
9208 @vindex mm-verify-option
9209 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9210 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9211 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9213 @item mm-decrypt-option
9214 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9215 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9216 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9217 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9221 @node Article Buffer
9222 @chapter Article Buffer
9223 @cindex article buffer
9225 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9226 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9227 tell Gnus otherwise.
9230 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9231 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9232 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9233 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9234 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9238 @node Hiding Headers
9239 @section Hiding Headers
9240 @cindex hiding headers
9241 @cindex deleting headers
9243 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9244 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9246 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9247 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9248 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9249 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9250 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9251 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9252 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9253 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9254 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9256 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9260 @item gnus-visible-headers
9261 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9262 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9263 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9264 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9266 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9267 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9270 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9273 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9276 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9277 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9278 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9279 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9280 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9281 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9283 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9284 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9287 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9290 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9293 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9294 variable will have no effect.
9298 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9299 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9300 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9301 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9302 the headers are to be displayed.
9304 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9305 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9308 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9311 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9312 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9314 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9315 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9316 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9317 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9318 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9319 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9320 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9323 These conditions are:
9326 Remove all empty headers.
9328 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9329 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9331 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9334 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9337 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9338 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9340 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9343 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9345 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9348 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9351 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9352 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9355 This is also the default value for this variable.
9359 @section Using @sc{mime}
9362 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9363 while people stand around yawning.
9365 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9366 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9368 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9369 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9370 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9372 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9373 @findex gnus-display-mime
9374 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9375 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9376 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9377 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9379 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9383 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9385 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9386 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9387 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9389 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9390 @item M-RET (Article)
9392 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9393 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9395 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9397 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9398 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9400 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
9402 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9403 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
9405 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9407 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9408 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9410 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
9412 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
9413 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
9414 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
9415 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
9416 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
9417 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
9419 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9421 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9422 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9424 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9426 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9427 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9428 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9429 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9430 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9433 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
9435 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
9436 viewer is available, use an external viewer
9437 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
9439 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
9441 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
9442 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
9444 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9446 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9448 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9450 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9451 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9455 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9456 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9459 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9460 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9461 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9462 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9463 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9464 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9465 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9466 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9467 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9469 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9471 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9474 @node Customizing Articles
9475 @section Customizing Articles
9476 @cindex article customization
9478 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9479 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9480 called automatically when you select the articles.
9482 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9483 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9484 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9485 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9487 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9488 for sensible values.
9492 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9495 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9498 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9501 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9504 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9508 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9509 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9510 regexps in the list.
9513 A list where the first element is not a string:
9515 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9516 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9517 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9521 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9526 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9527 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9528 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9529 considered to contain just a single part.
9531 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9532 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9533 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9534 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9535 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9536 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9537 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9539 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9540 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9541 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9542 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9545 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9546 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9547 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9548 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9549 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9550 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9551 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9552 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9553 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9554 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9555 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
9556 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9557 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
9558 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9559 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9560 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9561 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9562 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9563 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9564 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9565 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9566 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9567 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9568 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
9569 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9570 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9571 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9572 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9573 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9574 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9575 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9576 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9577 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9578 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9579 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9580 @item gnus-treat-translate
9583 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9584 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9585 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9586 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9587 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9591 @node Article Keymap
9592 @section Article Keymap
9594 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9595 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9596 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9597 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9600 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9605 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9606 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9607 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9610 @kindex DEL (Article)
9611 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9612 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9615 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9616 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9617 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9618 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9619 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9622 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9623 @findex gnus-article-mail
9624 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9625 given a prefix, include the mail.
9629 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9630 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9631 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9635 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9636 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9637 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9640 @kindex TAB (Article)
9641 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9642 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9643 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9646 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9647 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9648 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9654 @section Misc Article
9658 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9659 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9660 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9661 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9664 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9665 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9667 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9668 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9670 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9671 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9672 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9673 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9674 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9675 the contents of the article buffer.
9677 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9678 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9679 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9681 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9682 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9683 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9684 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9686 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9687 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9688 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9689 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9690 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9695 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9696 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9699 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9702 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9704 @item gnus-break-pages
9705 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9706 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9707 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9708 paging will not be done.
9710 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9711 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9712 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9717 @node Composing Messages
9718 @chapter Composing Messages
9719 @cindex composing messages
9722 @cindex sending mail
9728 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9729 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9730 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9731 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9732 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9733 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9736 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9737 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9738 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9739 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9740 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9741 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9742 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9743 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9746 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9747 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9753 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9756 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9757 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9758 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9759 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9761 @item gnus-add-to-list
9762 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9763 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9764 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9769 @node Posting Server
9770 @section Posting Server
9772 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9773 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9775 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9777 @vindex gnus-post-method
9779 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
9780 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
9781 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
9782 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
9783 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9784 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9785 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9788 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9791 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9792 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9793 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9794 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
9796 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9797 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9799 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9800 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9803 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
9804 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
9808 @section Mail and Post
9810 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9814 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9815 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9816 @cindex mailing lists
9818 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9819 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9820 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9821 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9822 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9823 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9824 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9825 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9826 still a pain, though.
9830 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9831 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9832 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9835 @findex ispell-message
9837 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9840 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9841 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9844 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9848 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
9849 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9851 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9854 Modify to suit your needs.
9857 @node Archived Messages
9858 @section Archived Messages
9859 @cindex archived messages
9860 @cindex sent messages
9862 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9863 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9864 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9865 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9868 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9869 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9870 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9874 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9875 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9876 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9877 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9880 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9881 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
9882 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9883 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9886 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9887 '(nnfolder "archive"
9888 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9889 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9890 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9893 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9895 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9896 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9897 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9899 This variable can be used to do the following:
9903 Messages will be saved in that group.
9905 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9906 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9907 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9908 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9909 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9910 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9911 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9912 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9914 @item a list of strings
9915 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9916 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9917 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9919 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9924 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9926 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9929 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9931 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9934 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9936 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9937 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9938 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9939 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9944 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9945 '((if (message-news-p)
9950 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9951 messages in one file per month:
9954 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9955 '((if (message-news-p)
9957 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9960 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9961 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9963 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9964 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9965 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9966 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9967 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9968 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9969 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9970 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9971 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9972 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9974 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9975 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9976 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9977 this will disable archiving.
9980 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9981 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9982 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9983 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9984 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9987 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9988 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9989 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9992 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9993 but the latter is the preferred method.
9995 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9996 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9997 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10002 @node Posting Styles
10003 @section Posting Styles
10004 @cindex posting styles
10007 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10009 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10010 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10011 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10014 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10015 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10016 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10017 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10018 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10023 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10024 (organization "What me?"))
10026 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10027 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10028 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10031 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10032 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10033 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10034 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10035 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10036 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10037 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10038 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10040 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10041 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10042 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10043 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10044 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10045 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10046 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10047 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10048 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10050 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10051 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10052 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10053 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10054 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10055 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10056 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10057 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10058 result is thrown away.
10060 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10061 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10062 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10063 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10064 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10065 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10067 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10068 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10069 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10071 @findex message-mail-p
10072 @findex message-news-p
10074 So here's a new example:
10077 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10079 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10081 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10082 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10084 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10085 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10086 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10088 (signature my-news-signature))
10089 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10090 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10091 ((posting-from-work-p)
10092 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10093 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10094 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10095 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10097 (From (save-excursion
10098 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10099 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10101 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10104 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10105 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10106 if you fill many roles.
10113 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10114 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10115 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10116 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10117 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10119 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10120 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10121 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10122 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10123 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10127 @vindex nndraft-directory
10128 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10129 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10130 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10131 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10132 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10133 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10135 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10136 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10139 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10140 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10141 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10142 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10143 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10144 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10145 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10146 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10147 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10148 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10149 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10150 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10151 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10152 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10154 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10155 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10156 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10158 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10159 @kindex D e (Draft)
10160 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10161 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10162 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10164 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10167 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10168 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10169 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10170 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10171 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10172 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10173 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10176 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10177 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10178 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10181 @node Rejected Articles
10182 @section Rejected Articles
10183 @cindex rejected articles
10185 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10186 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10187 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10188 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10190 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10191 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10192 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10193 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10194 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10196 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10197 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10198 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10204 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10205 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10206 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10208 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10209 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10213 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10214 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10217 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10218 to 700, for your own safety.
10220 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10221 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10225 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10228 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10229 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10232 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10235 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10236 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{C-c
10237 C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{C-c C-m c
10238 p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c C-m c s} to
10239 encrypt using S/MIME.
10241 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10242 you've typed it correctly.
10244 @node Select Methods
10245 @chapter Select Methods
10246 @cindex foreign groups
10247 @cindex select methods
10249 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10250 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10251 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10252 personal mail group.
10254 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10255 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10256 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10257 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10258 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10259 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10261 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10262 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10264 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10267 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10268 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10269 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10270 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10271 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10273 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10276 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10277 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10278 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10279 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10280 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10281 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10282 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10286 @node Server Buffer
10287 @section Server Buffer
10289 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10290 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10291 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10292 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10293 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10294 backend represents a virtual server.
10296 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10297 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10298 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10299 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10301 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10302 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10303 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10304 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10305 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10306 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10307 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10309 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10310 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10313 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10314 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10315 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10316 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10317 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10318 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10319 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10322 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10323 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10326 @node Server Buffer Format
10327 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10328 @cindex server buffer format
10330 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10331 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10332 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10333 variable, with some simple extensions:
10338 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10341 The name of this server.
10344 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10347 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10350 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10351 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10352 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10353 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10363 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10366 @node Server Commands
10367 @subsection Server Commands
10368 @cindex server commands
10374 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10375 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10379 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10380 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10383 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10384 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10385 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10389 @findex gnus-server-exit
10390 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10394 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10395 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10399 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10400 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10404 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10405 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10409 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10410 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10414 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10415 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10416 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10421 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10422 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10423 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10424 a mail backend that has gotten out of sync.
10429 @node Example Methods
10430 @subsection Example Methods
10432 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10435 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10438 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10444 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10445 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10448 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10449 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10451 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10452 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10456 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10459 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10460 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10462 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10463 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10464 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10468 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10471 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10474 Here's the method for a public spool:
10478 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10479 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10485 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10486 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10487 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10488 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10489 should probably look something like this:
10493 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10494 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10495 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10496 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10497 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10500 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10501 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10502 server that would look something like this:
10506 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10507 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10508 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10509 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10510 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10511 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10514 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10515 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10516 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10517 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10520 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10521 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10523 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10524 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10526 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10527 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10528 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10530 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10532 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10533 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10534 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10535 will contain the following:
10545 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10546 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10547 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10550 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10551 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10552 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10555 @node Server Variables
10556 @subsection Server Variables
10558 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10559 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10560 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10561 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10562 won't change the "derived" variables.
10564 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10565 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10566 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10567 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10568 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10569 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10570 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10571 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10572 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10576 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10577 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10578 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10582 @node Servers and Methods
10583 @subsection Servers and Methods
10585 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10586 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10587 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10588 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10592 @node Unavailable Servers
10593 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10595 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10596 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10597 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10598 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10599 actually the case or not.
10601 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10602 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10603 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10604 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10605 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10606 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10607 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10608 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10610 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10611 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10613 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
10614 with the following commands:
10620 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10621 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10622 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10626 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10627 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10628 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10632 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10633 Mark the current server as unreachable
10634 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10637 @kindex M-o (Server)
10638 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10639 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10640 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10643 @kindex M-c (Server)
10644 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10645 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10646 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10650 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10651 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10652 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10658 @section Getting News
10659 @cindex reading news
10660 @cindex news backends
10662 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10663 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10664 or it can read from a local spool.
10667 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10668 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10673 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10676 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10677 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10678 server as the, uhm, address.
10680 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10681 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10682 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10683 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10685 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10686 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10687 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10689 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10694 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10695 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10696 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10698 @cindex authentification
10699 @cindex nntp authentification
10700 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10701 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10702 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10703 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10704 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10705 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10706 present in this hook.
10708 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10709 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10710 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10711 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10712 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10713 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10714 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10715 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10716 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10717 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10718 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10719 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10723 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10726 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10728 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10729 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
10730 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10731 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10732 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10733 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
10734 @samp{force} is explained below.
10738 Here's an example file:
10741 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10742 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10745 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10746 have to be first, for instance.
10748 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10749 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10750 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10751 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10752 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10753 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10754 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10756 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10757 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10763 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10764 previously mentioned.
10766 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10768 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10769 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10770 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10771 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10772 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10775 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10776 '(("innd" (ding))))
10779 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10781 The default value is
10784 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10785 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
10786 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10789 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10790 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10792 @item nntp-maximum-request
10793 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10794 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10795 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10796 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10797 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10798 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10799 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10801 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10802 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10803 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10804 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10805 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10806 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10807 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10808 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10809 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10810 no timeouts are done.
10812 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10813 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10814 @c @cindex PPP connections
10815 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10816 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10817 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10818 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10819 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10820 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10821 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10822 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10823 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10824 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10826 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10827 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10828 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10829 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10830 @c described above.
10832 @item nntp-server-hook
10833 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10834 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10837 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10838 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10839 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10840 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10841 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10842 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10843 functions are supplied:
10846 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10847 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10850 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10851 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10852 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10855 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10859 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10860 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10861 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10862 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10864 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10865 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10866 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10868 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10869 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10870 User name on the remote system.
10874 @item nntp-open-telnet
10875 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10876 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10878 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10881 @item nntp-telnet-command
10882 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10883 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10885 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10886 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10887 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10889 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10890 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10891 User name for log in on the remote system.
10893 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10894 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10895 Password to use when logging in.
10897 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10898 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10899 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10902 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10903 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10904 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10905 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10907 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10908 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10909 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10910 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10911 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10915 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10916 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10917 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10918 you must have SSLay installed
10919 (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10920 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
10921 define a server as follows:
10924 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10926 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined
10927 ;; in our /etc/services
10929 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10930 (nntp-open-connection-function
10931 nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10932 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10933 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10938 @item nntp-end-of-line
10939 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10940 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10941 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10942 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10944 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10945 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10946 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10950 @vindex nntp-address
10951 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10953 @item nntp-port-number
10954 @vindex nntp-port-number
10955 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10958 @item nntp-buggy-select
10959 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10960 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10962 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10963 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10964 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10965 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10968 @item nntp-xover-commands
10969 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10972 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10973 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10977 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10978 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10979 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10980 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10981 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10982 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10983 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10984 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10985 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10986 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10987 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10989 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10990 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10991 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10993 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10994 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10995 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10996 server closes connection.
10998 @item nntp-record-commands
10999 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11000 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11001 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11002 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11003 that doesn't seem to work.
11009 @subsection News Spool
11013 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11014 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11015 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11018 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11019 anything else) as the address.
11021 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11022 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11023 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11024 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11028 @item nnspool-inews-program
11029 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11030 Program used to post an article.
11032 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11033 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11034 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11036 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11037 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11038 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11039 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11041 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11042 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11043 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11044 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11046 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11047 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11048 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11050 @item nnspool-active-file
11051 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11052 The path to the active file.
11054 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11055 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11056 The path to the group descriptions file.
11058 @item nnspool-history-file
11059 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11060 The path to the news history file.
11062 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11063 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11064 The path to the active date file.
11066 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11067 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11068 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11071 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11072 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11074 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11075 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11076 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11082 @section Getting Mail
11083 @cindex reading mail
11086 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11090 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11091 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11092 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11093 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11094 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11095 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11096 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11097 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11098 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11099 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11100 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11101 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
11102 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11106 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11107 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11109 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11110 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11111 of a culture shock.
11113 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11114 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11116 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11117 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11118 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11119 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11121 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11123 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11124 deleted? How awful!
11126 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11127 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11128 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11129 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11132 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11133 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11134 they want to treat a message.
11136 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11137 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11138 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11139 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11140 archived somewhere else.
11142 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11143 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11144 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11145 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11146 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11148 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11149 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11150 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11152 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11153 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11156 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11157 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11158 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11159 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11160 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11162 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11163 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11164 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11165 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11166 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11167 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11171 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11172 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11174 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11175 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11176 and things will happen automatically.
11178 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11179 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11182 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11183 '((nnml "private")))
11186 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
11187 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11188 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11189 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11190 like any other group.
11192 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11195 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11196 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11197 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11201 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11202 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11203 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11206 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11207 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11208 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11211 @node Splitting Mail
11212 @subsection Splitting Mail
11213 @cindex splitting mail
11214 @cindex mail splitting
11216 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11217 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11218 to be split into groups.
11221 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11222 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11223 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11224 ("mail.other" "")))
11227 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11228 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11229 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11230 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11231 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11232 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11233 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11236 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11239 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11240 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11241 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11242 mail belongs in that group.
11244 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11245 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11246 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11247 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11248 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11249 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11251 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11252 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11253 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11254 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11255 thinks should carry this mail message.
11257 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11258 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11259 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11260 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11262 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11263 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11264 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11265 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11266 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11268 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11271 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11272 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11273 links. If that's the case for you, set
11274 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11275 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11277 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11278 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11279 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11280 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11281 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11282 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11285 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11286 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11287 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11288 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11289 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11290 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11291 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11292 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11293 month's rent money.
11297 @subsection Mail Sources
11299 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11300 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11304 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11305 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11306 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11310 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11311 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11313 @cindex mail server
11316 @cindex mail source
11318 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11319 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11324 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11327 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11328 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11329 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11332 The following mail source types are available:
11336 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11342 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11343 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11346 An example file mail source:
11349 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11352 Or using the default path:
11358 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11359 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11360 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11363 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11367 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11370 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11374 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11377 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11379 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11382 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11386 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11387 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11388 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
11389 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
11390 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
11396 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11400 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11404 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11405 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11406 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11407 predicate are considered.
11411 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11415 An example directory mail source:
11418 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11423 Get mail from a POP server.
11429 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11430 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11433 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11434 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11435 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11436 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
11437 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
11440 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11444 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11448 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
11449 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11452 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11455 The valid format specifier characters are:
11459 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11460 included in this string.
11463 The name of the server.
11466 The port number of the server.
11469 The user name to use.
11472 The password to use.
11475 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11476 corresponding keywords.
11479 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11480 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11483 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11484 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11487 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11488 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11491 @item :authentication
11492 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11493 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11498 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11499 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11501 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11502 default user name, and default fetcher:
11508 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11511 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11512 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11515 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11518 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11522 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11523 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11524 contains exactly one mail.
11530 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11531 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11534 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11535 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11537 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11538 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11539 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11542 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11543 from locking problems).
11547 Two example maildir mail sources:
11550 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
11551 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11555 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
11560 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
11561 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
11562 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
11563 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
11570 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11571 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11574 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11575 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11578 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11582 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11586 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11587 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11588 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11590 @item :authentication
11591 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11592 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11593 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11597 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
11598 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
11599 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
11605 The valid format specifier characters are:
11609 The name of the server.
11612 User name from `imap-default-user'.
11615 The port number of the server.
11618 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11619 corresponding keywords.
11622 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11623 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11626 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11627 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11628 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11629 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11630 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11631 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11634 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11635 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11636 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11637 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11640 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11641 after finishing the fetch.
11645 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11648 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
11650 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11654 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11655 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11657 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11660 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11661 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11663 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11669 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11670 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11673 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11677 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11681 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11682 folder after finishing the fetch.
11686 An example webmail source:
11689 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
11691 :password "secret")
11696 @item Common Keywords
11697 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11703 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11704 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11708 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11713 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11714 useful when you use local mail and news.
11719 @subsubsection Function Interface
11721 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11722 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11723 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11724 consider the following mail-source setting:
11727 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11728 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11731 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11732 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11733 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11734 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11735 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11737 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11740 @node Mail Source Customization
11741 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11743 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11744 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11748 @item mail-source-crash-box
11749 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11750 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11751 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11753 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11754 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11755 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11757 @item mail-source-directory
11758 @vindex mail-source-directory
11759 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11760 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11761 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11764 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11765 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11766 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11767 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11768 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11769 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11771 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11772 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11773 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11778 @node Fetching Mail
11779 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11781 @vindex mail-sources
11782 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11783 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11784 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11785 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11787 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11788 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11791 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11792 mail server, you'd say something like:
11797 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11798 :password "secret")))
11801 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11805 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11806 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11809 :password "secret")))
11813 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11814 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11815 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11816 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11817 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11818 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11822 @node Mail Backend Variables
11823 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11825 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11829 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11830 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11831 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11832 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11834 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11835 @item nnmail-split-hook
11836 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11837 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11838 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11839 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11840 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11841 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11842 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11843 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11844 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11847 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11848 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11849 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11850 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11851 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11852 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11853 starting to handle the new mail) and
11854 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11855 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11856 default file modes the new mail files get:
11859 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11860 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11862 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11863 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11866 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11867 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11868 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11869 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11870 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11871 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11872 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11874 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11875 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11876 @findex delete-file
11877 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11879 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11880 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11881 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11882 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11883 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11888 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11889 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11890 @cindex mail splitting
11891 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11893 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11894 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11895 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11896 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11897 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11898 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11900 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11903 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11904 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11905 ;; from real errors.
11906 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11908 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11909 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11910 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11911 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11912 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11913 ;; Other mailing lists...
11914 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11915 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11916 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11917 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11918 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11919 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11920 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11921 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11923 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11924 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11928 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11929 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11930 the five possible split syntaxes:
11935 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11936 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11940 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11941 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11942 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11943 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11944 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11945 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11946 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11947 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11950 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11951 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11952 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11953 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11956 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11957 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11960 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11961 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11964 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11965 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11966 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11967 function should return a @var{split}.
11970 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11971 body of the messages:
11974 (defun split-on-body ()
11976 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11977 (goto-char (point-min))
11978 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11982 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
11983 when the @code{:} function is run.
11986 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11987 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11988 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11992 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11996 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11997 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11998 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11999 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12000 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12002 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12003 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12004 are expanded as specified by the variable
12005 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12006 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12009 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12010 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12011 when all this splitting is performed.
12013 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12014 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12015 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12018 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12021 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12022 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12024 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12025 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12026 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12027 groupings 1 through 9.
12029 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12030 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12031 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12032 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12033 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12034 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12035 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12036 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12037 it once per thread.
12039 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
12040 non-nil value. And then you can include
12041 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
12043 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12044 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12045 ;; other splits go here
12049 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12050 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12051 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12052 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12053 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12054 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12055 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12056 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12057 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
12058 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
12059 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
12060 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300
12062 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12063 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12064 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12065 messages goes into the new group.
12068 @node Group Mail Splitting
12069 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12070 @cindex mail splitting
12071 @cindex group mail splitting
12073 @findex gnus-group-split
12074 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12075 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12076 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12077 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12078 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12079 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12080 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12081 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12083 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12084 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12085 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12086 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12088 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12089 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12090 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12091 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12092 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12093 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12094 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12096 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12097 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12098 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12099 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12100 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12101 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12102 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12104 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12105 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12106 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12107 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12108 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12109 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12110 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12111 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12112 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12113 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12114 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12115 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12116 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12118 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12123 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12124 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12126 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12127 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12128 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12129 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12131 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12134 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12135 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12136 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12139 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12140 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12141 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12145 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12146 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12147 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12151 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12154 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12155 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12156 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12157 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12158 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12159 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12160 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12161 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12162 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12164 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12165 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12166 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12167 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12168 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12169 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12170 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12171 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12172 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12174 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12175 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12176 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12177 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12178 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12179 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12182 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12185 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12186 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12187 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12188 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12189 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12192 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12193 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12194 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12195 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12197 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12198 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12200 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12201 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12202 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12205 Doing so can be quite easy.
12207 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12208 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12209 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12210 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12211 your @code{nnml} groups.
12217 Go to the group buffer.
12220 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12221 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12224 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12227 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12228 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12231 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12232 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12235 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12236 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12237 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12238 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12239 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12241 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12242 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12243 using the new mail backend.
12246 @node Expiring Mail
12247 @subsection Expiring Mail
12248 @cindex article expiry
12250 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12251 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12252 different approach to mail reading.
12254 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12255 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12256 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12257 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12258 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12259 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12262 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12263 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12264 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12265 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12266 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12267 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12268 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12269 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12271 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12272 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12273 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12274 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12275 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12276 column in the summary buffer.
12278 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12279 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12280 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12281 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12284 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12286 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12287 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12288 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12291 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12292 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12293 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12294 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12295 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12297 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12298 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12301 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12302 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12305 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12306 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12308 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12309 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12310 don't really mix very well.
12312 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12313 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12314 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12315 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12318 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12319 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12320 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12321 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12324 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12326 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12328 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12330 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12332 ((string= group "important")
12338 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12339 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12341 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12342 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12343 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12346 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12347 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12349 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12350 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12351 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12352 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12353 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12354 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12355 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12356 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12357 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12358 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12359 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12360 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12363 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12365 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12369 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12370 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12371 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12372 easier for procmail users.
12374 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12375 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12376 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12377 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12378 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12379 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12380 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12381 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12382 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12383 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12384 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12385 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12386 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12389 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12391 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12392 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12393 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12394 auto-expire turned on.
12398 @subsection Washing Mail
12399 @cindex mail washing
12400 @cindex list server brain damage
12401 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12403 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12404 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12405 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12406 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12407 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12408 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12410 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12411 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12412 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12415 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12416 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12417 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12418 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12421 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12422 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12423 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12424 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12425 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12428 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12429 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12430 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12431 Emacs running on MS machines.
12435 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12436 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12437 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12438 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12441 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12442 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12443 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12444 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12446 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12447 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12448 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12449 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12450 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12451 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12452 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12455 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12456 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12459 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12460 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12463 This can also be done non-destructively with
12464 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12466 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12467 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12468 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12470 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12471 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12473 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12474 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12475 @code{References} headers.
12479 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12480 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12481 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12485 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12486 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12487 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12494 @subsection Duplicates
12496 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12497 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12498 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12499 @cindex duplicate mails
12500 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12501 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12502 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12503 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12504 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12505 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12506 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12507 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12508 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12509 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12510 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12511 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12512 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12514 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12515 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12516 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12517 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12519 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12522 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12523 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12527 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12528 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12529 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12530 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12531 (any mail "mail.misc")
12538 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12539 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12544 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12545 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12546 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12547 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12548 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12551 @node Not Reading Mail
12552 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12554 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12555 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12556 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12558 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12559 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12560 mail, which should help.
12562 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12563 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12564 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12565 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12566 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12567 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12568 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12569 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12570 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12571 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12572 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12574 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12575 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12579 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12580 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12582 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12583 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12584 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12586 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12587 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12588 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12589 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12592 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12593 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12594 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12595 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12596 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12597 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12601 @node Unix Mail Box
12602 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12604 @cindex unix mail box
12606 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12607 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12608 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12609 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12610 which group it belongs in.
12612 Virtual server settings:
12615 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12616 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12617 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
12620 @item nnmbox-active-file
12621 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12622 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
12623 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
12625 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12626 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12627 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12628 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
12633 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12637 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12638 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12639 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12640 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12641 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12643 Virtual server settings:
12646 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12647 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12648 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
12650 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12651 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12652 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
12653 @file{~/.rmail-active}
12655 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12656 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12657 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
12663 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12665 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12667 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12668 format. It should be used with some caution.
12670 @vindex nnml-directory
12671 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12672 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12673 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12674 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12676 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12679 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12680 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12681 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12682 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12683 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12684 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12685 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12686 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12688 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12689 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12690 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12691 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12693 Virtual server settings:
12696 @item nnml-directory
12697 @vindex nnml-directory
12698 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12699 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
12702 @item nnml-active-file
12703 @vindex nnml-active-file
12704 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
12705 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
12707 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12708 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12709 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12710 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
12712 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12713 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12714 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
12717 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12718 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12719 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12720 default is @code{nil}
12722 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12723 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12724 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12726 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12727 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12728 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12732 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12733 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12734 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12735 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12736 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12737 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12738 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12743 @subsubsection MH Spool
12745 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12747 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12748 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12749 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12750 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12752 Virtual server settings:
12755 @item nnmh-directory
12756 @vindex nnmh-directory
12757 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
12758 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12761 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12762 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12763 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
12767 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12768 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12769 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12770 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12771 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12772 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12773 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
12778 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12780 @cindex mbox folders
12781 @cindex mail folders
12783 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12784 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12785 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12788 Virtual server settings:
12791 @item nnfolder-directory
12792 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12793 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12794 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12797 @item nnfolder-active-file
12798 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12799 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
12801 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12802 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12803 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12804 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
12806 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12807 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12808 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
12811 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12812 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12813 @cindex backup files
12814 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12815 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12816 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12817 your @file{.emacs} file:
12820 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12821 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12823 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12826 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12827 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12828 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12829 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12830 extract some information from it before removing it.
12832 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12833 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12834 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12835 default is @code{nil}.
12840 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12841 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12842 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12843 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12844 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12845 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12848 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12849 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12851 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12852 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12853 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12854 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12855 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12857 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12858 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12859 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12860 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12861 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12862 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12863 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12864 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12867 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12868 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12869 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12870 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12875 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12876 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12877 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12878 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12879 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12880 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12881 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12882 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12883 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12884 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12885 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12886 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12887 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12892 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12893 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12894 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12895 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12896 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12897 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12898 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12899 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12900 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12901 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12902 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12903 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12904 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12905 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12907 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12908 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12913 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12914 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12915 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12916 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12917 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12918 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12919 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12920 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12921 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12922 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12923 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12924 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12925 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12926 provided by the active file and overviews.
12928 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12929 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12930 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12931 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12932 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12935 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12936 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12941 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12942 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12943 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12944 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12945 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12946 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12947 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12951 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12952 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12953 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12954 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12955 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12956 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12957 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12958 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12959 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12961 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12962 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12963 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12964 friendly mail backend all over.
12969 @node Browsing the Web
12970 @section Browsing the Web
12972 @cindex browsing the web
12976 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12977 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12978 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12979 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12980 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12981 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12982 even know what a news group is.
12984 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12985 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12986 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12987 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12988 you mad in the end.
12990 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12993 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12994 interfaces to these sources.
12997 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12998 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12999 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13000 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13001 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13002 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13005 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13007 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13008 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13009 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
13010 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
13011 though, you should be ok.
13013 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13014 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13015 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13016 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13017 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13021 @subsection Web Searches
13025 @cindex InReference
13026 @cindex Usenet searches
13027 @cindex searching the Usenet
13029 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13030 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13031 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13032 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13033 searches without having to use a browser.
13035 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13036 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13037 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13038 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13039 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13041 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13042 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13043 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13044 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13045 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13046 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13047 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13048 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13049 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13050 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13053 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13054 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13055 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13056 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13057 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13058 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13060 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13061 to use @code{nnweb}.
13063 Virtual server variables:
13068 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13069 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13073 @vindex nnweb-search
13074 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13076 @item nnweb-max-hits
13077 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13078 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13081 @item nnweb-type-definition
13082 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13083 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13084 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13089 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13093 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13096 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13099 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13103 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13110 @subsection Slashdot
13114 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13115 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13116 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13118 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13119 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13122 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13123 '((nnslashdot "")))
13126 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
13127 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13128 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13129 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13130 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13133 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13134 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13136 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13137 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13138 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13139 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13140 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13141 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13144 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13147 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13148 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13149 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13150 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13151 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13152 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13153 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13155 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13156 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13157 The login name to use when posting.
13159 @item nnslashdot-password
13160 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13161 The password to use when posting.
13163 @item nnslashdot-directory
13164 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13165 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
13166 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13168 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13169 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13170 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13171 news articles and comments. Default:
13172 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13174 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13175 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13176 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13178 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13180 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13181 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13182 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13184 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13186 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13187 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13188 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13190 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13191 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13192 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13193 updated. The default is 0.
13200 @subsection Ultimate
13202 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13204 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13205 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13206 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13207 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13209 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13210 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13211 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13212 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13213 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13214 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13215 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13217 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13220 @item nnultimate-directory
13221 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13222 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13223 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13228 @subsection Web Archive
13230 @cindex Web Archive
13232 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13233 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13234 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13235 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13238 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13239 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13240 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13241 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13242 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13243 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13244 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13246 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13249 @item nnwarchive-directory
13250 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13251 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13252 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13254 @item nnwarchive-login
13255 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13256 The account name on the web server.
13258 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13259 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13260 The password for your account on the web server.
13268 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
13269 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
13270 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13273 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
13274 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
13277 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
13280 @item nnrss-directory
13281 @vindex nnrss-directory
13282 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
13283 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
13287 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
13288 the summary buffer.
13291 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
13292 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
13294 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
13296 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
13297 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
13300 @node Customizing w3
13301 @subsection Customizing w3
13307 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
13308 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
13309 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
13311 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
13312 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
13313 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
13316 (eval-after-load "w3"
13318 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
13319 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
13320 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
13321 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
13323 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
13326 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
13327 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
13331 @node Other Sources
13332 @section Other Sources
13334 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
13335 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
13339 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
13340 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
13341 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
13342 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
13343 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
13344 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
13348 @node Directory Groups
13349 @subsection Directory Groups
13351 @cindex directory groups
13353 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
13354 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
13357 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
13358 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
13359 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
13360 backend to read directories. Big deal.
13362 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
13363 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
13364 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
13365 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
13366 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
13368 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
13370 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
13371 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
13372 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
13373 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
13376 @node Anything Groups
13377 @subsection Anything Groups
13380 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
13381 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
13382 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
13385 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
13386 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
13387 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
13388 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
13389 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
13390 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
13391 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
13392 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
13393 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
13394 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
13397 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
13398 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
13399 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
13400 in the article buffer, just as usual.
13402 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
13403 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
13404 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
13405 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
13407 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
13408 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
13409 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
13410 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
13411 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
13412 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
13413 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
13414 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
13419 @item nneething-map-file-directory
13420 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
13421 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
13422 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
13424 @item nneething-exclude-files
13425 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
13426 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
13427 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
13429 @item nneething-include-files
13430 @vindex nneething-include-files
13431 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
13432 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
13434 @item nneething-map-file
13435 @vindex nneething-map-file
13436 Name of the map files.
13440 @node Document Groups
13441 @subsection Document Groups
13443 @cindex documentation group
13446 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
13447 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
13454 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
13459 The standard Unix mbox file.
13461 @cindex MMDF mail box
13463 The MMDF mail box format.
13466 Several news articles appended into a file.
13469 @cindex rnews batch files
13470 The rnews batch transport format.
13471 @cindex forwarded messages
13474 Forwarded articles.
13477 Netscape mail boxes.
13480 MIME multipart messages.
13482 @item standard-digest
13483 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13486 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13489 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13490 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13491 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13494 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13495 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13496 group. And that's it.
13498 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13499 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13500 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13501 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13502 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13503 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13504 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13505 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13506 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13507 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13509 Virtual server variables:
13512 @item nndoc-article-type
13513 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13514 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13515 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13516 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13517 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13519 @item nndoc-post-type
13520 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13521 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13522 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13527 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13531 @node Document Server Internals
13532 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13534 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13535 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13536 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13537 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13539 First, here's an example document type definition:
13543 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13544 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13547 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13548 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13549 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13550 types can be defined with very few settings:
13553 @item first-article
13554 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13555 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13558 @item article-begin
13559 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13560 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13562 @item head-begin-function
13563 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13566 @item nndoc-head-begin
13567 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13570 @item nndoc-head-end
13571 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13572 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13574 @item body-begin-function
13575 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13579 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13582 @item body-end-function
13583 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13587 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13590 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13591 regexp will be totally ignored.
13595 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13596 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13597 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13598 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13599 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13602 @item prepare-body-function
13603 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13604 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13605 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13607 @item article-transform-function
13608 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13609 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13610 body of the article.
13612 @item generate-head-function
13613 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13614 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13615 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13616 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13620 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13625 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13626 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13627 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13628 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13629 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13630 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13631 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13632 (subtype digest guess))
13635 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13636 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13637 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13638 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13639 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13641 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13642 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13643 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13644 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13645 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13646 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13647 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13648 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13649 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13650 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13658 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13659 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13660 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13662 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13663 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13664 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13667 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13668 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13669 that interested in doing things properly.
13671 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13672 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13675 First some terminology:
13680 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13681 get news and/or mail from.
13684 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13685 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13688 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13692 @item message packets
13693 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13694 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13695 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13697 @item response packets
13698 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13699 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13700 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13710 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13711 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13712 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13713 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13716 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13719 You put the packet in your home directory.
13722 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13723 the native or secondary server.
13726 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13727 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13730 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13734 You transfer this packet to the server.
13737 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13740 You then repeat until you die.
13744 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13745 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13748 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13749 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13750 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13754 @node SOUP Commands
13755 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13757 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13761 @kindex G s b (Group)
13762 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13763 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13764 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13765 process/prefix convention.
13768 @kindex G s w (Group)
13769 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13770 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13773 @kindex G s s (Group)
13774 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13775 Send all replies from the replies packet
13776 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13779 @kindex G s p (Group)
13780 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13781 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13784 @kindex G s r (Group)
13785 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13786 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13789 @kindex O s (Summary)
13790 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13791 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13792 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13793 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13798 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13803 @item gnus-soup-directory
13804 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13805 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13806 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13808 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13809 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13810 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13811 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13813 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13814 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13815 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13816 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13818 @item gnus-soup-packer
13819 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13820 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13821 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13823 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13824 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13825 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13826 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13828 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13829 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13830 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13832 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13833 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13834 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13835 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13841 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13844 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13845 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13846 you can read them at leisure.
13848 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13852 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13853 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13854 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13855 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13857 @item nnsoup-directory
13858 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13859 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13860 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13862 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13863 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13864 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13865 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13867 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13868 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13869 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13870 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13871 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13873 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13874 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13875 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13876 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13878 @item nnsoup-active-file
13879 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13880 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13881 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13882 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13883 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13885 @item nnsoup-packer
13886 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13887 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13888 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13890 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13891 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13892 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13893 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13895 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13896 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13897 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13900 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13901 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13902 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13905 @item nnsoup-always-save
13906 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13907 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13913 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13915 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13916 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13917 more for that to happen.
13919 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13920 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13921 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13924 In specific, this is what it does:
13927 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13928 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13931 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13932 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13933 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13936 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13937 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13938 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13941 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13942 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13943 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13945 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13951 @item nngateway-address
13952 @vindex nngateway-address
13953 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13955 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13956 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13957 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13958 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13959 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13960 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13961 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13964 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13965 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13966 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13969 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13972 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13975 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13978 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13980 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13983 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13984 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13985 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13987 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13989 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13990 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13991 @code{nngateway-address}.
13996 (setq gnus-post-method
13998 "mail2news@@replay.com"
13999 (nngateway-header-transformation
14000 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
14008 So, to use this, simply say something like:
14011 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
14017 @subsection @sc{imap}
14021 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14022 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14023 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14024 specify the network address of the server.
14026 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14027 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14028 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14029 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14030 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14032 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14033 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14034 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14035 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14037 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14038 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14039 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14040 usage explained in this section.
14042 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14043 might look something like this:
14046 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14047 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14048 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14050 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14051 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14052 ; a UW server running on localhost
14054 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14055 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14056 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14057 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14058 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14059 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14060 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14061 (nnimap-stream network))
14062 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14064 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14065 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14066 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14069 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14074 @item nnimap-address
14075 @vindex nnimap-address
14077 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14078 server name if not specified.
14080 @item nnimap-server-port
14081 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14082 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14084 Note that this should be a integer, example server specification:
14087 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14088 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14091 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14092 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14093 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14094 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14095 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14096 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14097 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14099 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14100 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14101 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14104 Example server specification:
14107 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14108 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14109 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14112 @item nnimap-stream
14113 @vindex nnimap-stream
14114 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14115 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14116 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
14117 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
14119 Example server specification:
14122 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14123 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14126 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14130 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
14131 @samp{imtest} program.
14133 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
14135 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14136 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14139 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
14140 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
14142 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14144 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14147 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14148 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
14149 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
14150 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14153 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14154 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14155 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14156 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14157 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14158 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14159 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14162 @vindex imap-shell-program
14163 @vindex imap-shell-host
14164 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14165 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14167 @item nnimap-authenticator
14168 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14170 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14171 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14173 Example server specification:
14176 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14177 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14180 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14184 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14185 external program @code{imtest}.
14187 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14190 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14191 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14193 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14195 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14197 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14200 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14202 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14203 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14204 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14205 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14206 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14207 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14210 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14211 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14212 running in circles yet?
14214 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14215 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14218 The possible options are:
14223 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14226 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14227 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14228 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14229 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14231 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14236 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14237 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14239 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14240 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14241 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14247 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14248 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14249 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14254 @node Splitting in IMAP
14255 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14256 @cindex splitting imap mail
14258 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14259 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14260 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14261 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14262 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14266 Here are the variables of interest:
14270 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14271 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14273 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14275 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14276 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14278 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14280 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14281 @cindex splitting, inbox
14283 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14285 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14286 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14290 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14291 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14294 No nnmail equivalent.
14296 @item nnimap-split-rule
14297 @cindex Splitting, rules
14298 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14300 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14303 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14304 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14305 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14306 Neither did I, we need examples.
14309 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14311 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14312 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14313 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14316 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14317 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14318 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14320 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14321 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14325 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14328 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14329 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14330 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14331 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14333 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14334 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14335 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14336 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14337 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14338 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14340 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14341 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14342 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14344 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14345 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14346 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14348 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14350 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14351 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14352 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14355 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14356 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14357 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14358 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14359 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14360 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14363 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14364 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14365 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14366 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14367 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14368 group/function elements.
14370 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14372 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14374 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14376 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14377 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14379 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14380 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14381 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14384 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14385 @cindex splitting, fancy
14386 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14387 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14389 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14390 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14391 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14393 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14394 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14395 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14396 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14401 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14402 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14405 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14409 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14410 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14411 @cindex editing imap acls
14412 @cindex Access Control Lists
14413 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14415 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14417 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14418 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14419 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14422 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14423 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14424 editing window with detailed instructions.
14426 Some possible uses:
14430 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14431 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14432 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14434 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14435 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14436 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14440 @node Expunging mailboxes
14441 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
14445 @cindex Manual expunging
14447 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14449 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14450 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14451 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14453 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14458 @node Combined Groups
14459 @section Combined Groups
14461 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
14465 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
14466 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
14470 @node Virtual Groups
14471 @subsection Virtual Groups
14473 @cindex virtual groups
14474 @cindex merging groups
14476 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
14479 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
14480 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
14481 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
14483 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
14484 regexp to match component groups.
14486 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
14487 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
14488 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
14489 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
14490 the virtual group.)
14492 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
14493 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
14496 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
14499 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
14500 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
14502 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
14503 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
14504 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
14505 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
14508 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
14511 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
14512 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
14513 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
14515 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
14516 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
14517 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
14518 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
14519 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
14521 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
14522 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
14523 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
14525 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
14526 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
14527 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
14528 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14529 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
14530 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
14531 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
14532 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
14533 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
14534 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
14535 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
14537 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14538 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14539 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14540 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14541 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14542 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14543 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14545 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14546 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14550 @node Kibozed Groups
14551 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14555 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14556 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14557 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14558 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14560 @kindex G k (Group)
14561 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14564 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14565 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14566 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14567 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14569 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14570 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14571 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14573 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14574 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14575 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14576 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14577 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14578 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14579 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14580 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14582 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14583 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14584 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14585 Stranger things have happened.
14587 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14588 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14590 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14591 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14592 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14593 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14594 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14595 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14597 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14598 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14601 @node Gnus Unplugged
14602 @section Gnus Unplugged
14607 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14609 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14610 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14611 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14612 read news. Believe it or not.
14614 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14615 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14616 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14617 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14618 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14620 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14621 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14622 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14623 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14624 reading news on a machine.
14626 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14630 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14631 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14635 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14636 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14643 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14645 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14648 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14649 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14650 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14651 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14652 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
14653 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14654 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14655 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14656 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14657 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14662 @subsection Agent Basics
14664 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14666 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14667 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14668 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14669 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14671 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14672 connected to the net continuously.
14674 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14675 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14677 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14682 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14683 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14684 already fetched while in this mode.
14687 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14688 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14689 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14690 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
14691 Source Specifiers}).
14694 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14695 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
14696 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
14697 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14698 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14701 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14702 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14703 then you read the news offline.
14706 And then you go to step 2.
14709 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14715 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14716 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14717 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14718 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14719 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14720 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14723 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14730 @node Agent Categories
14731 @subsection Agent Categories
14733 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14734 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14735 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14736 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14737 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14738 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14739 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14741 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14742 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14743 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14744 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14745 managing categories.
14748 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14749 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14750 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14754 @node Category Syntax
14755 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14757 A category consists of two things.
14761 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14762 are eligible for downloading; and
14765 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14766 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14767 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14770 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14771 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14772 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14773 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14775 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14776 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14777 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
14779 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14780 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14781 operators sprinkled in between.
14783 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14785 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14786 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14792 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14793 short (for some value of ``short'').
14795 Here's a more complex predicate:
14804 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14805 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14808 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14809 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14810 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14812 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14813 you want to do, you can write your own.
14817 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14818 lines; default 100.
14821 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14822 lines; default 200.
14825 True iff the article has a download score less than
14826 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14829 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14830 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14833 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14834 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14835 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14844 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14845 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14846 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14849 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14850 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14851 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14852 something along the lines of the following:
14855 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14856 "Say whether an article is old."
14857 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14858 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14861 with the predicate then defined as:
14864 (not my-article-old-p)
14867 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14868 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14869 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14870 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14873 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
14874 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14875 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14878 and simply specify your predicate as:
14884 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14885 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14886 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14887 just don't give a damn.
14889 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14890 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14891 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14892 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14893 parameters like so:
14896 (agent-predicate . short)
14899 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14900 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14901 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14903 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14906 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14909 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14910 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14911 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14914 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14915 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14916 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14917 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14918 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14919 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14921 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14922 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14923 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14924 if it's to be specific to that group.
14926 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14933 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14934 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14940 Category specification
14944 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14950 Group Parameter specification
14953 (agent-score ("from"
14954 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14959 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14965 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14972 Category specification
14975 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14981 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14985 Group Parameter specification
14988 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14991 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14996 Use @code{normal} score files
14998 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14999 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15000 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15001 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15003 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15004 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15005 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15006 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15010 Category Specification
15017 Group Parameter specification
15020 (agent-score . file)
15025 @node Category Buffer
15026 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15028 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15029 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15030 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15032 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15036 @kindex q (Category)
15037 @findex gnus-category-exit
15038 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15041 @kindex k (Category)
15042 @findex gnus-category-kill
15043 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15046 @kindex c (Category)
15047 @findex gnus-category-copy
15048 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15051 @kindex a (Category)
15052 @findex gnus-category-add
15053 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15056 @kindex p (Category)
15057 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15058 Edit the predicate of the current category
15059 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15062 @kindex g (Category)
15063 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15064 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15065 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15068 @kindex s (Category)
15069 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15070 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15071 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15074 @kindex l (Category)
15075 @findex gnus-category-list
15076 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
15080 @node Category Variables
15081 @subsubsection Category Variables
15084 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
15085 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
15086 Hook run in category buffers.
15088 @item gnus-category-line-format
15089 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
15090 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
15091 Variables}). Valid elements are:
15095 The name of the category.
15098 The number of groups in the category.
15101 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
15102 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
15103 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
15105 @item gnus-agent-short-article
15106 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
15107 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
15109 @item gnus-agent-long-article
15110 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
15111 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
15113 @item gnus-agent-low-score
15114 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
15115 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
15118 @item gnus-agent-high-score
15119 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
15120 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
15126 @node Agent Commands
15127 @subsection Agent Commands
15129 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
15130 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
15131 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
15135 * Group Agent Commands::
15136 * Summary Agent Commands::
15137 * Server Agent Commands::
15140 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
15141 following incantation:
15143 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15145 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15150 @node Group Agent Commands
15151 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15155 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15156 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15157 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15158 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15161 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15162 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15163 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15166 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15167 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15168 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15169 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15172 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15173 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15174 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15175 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15178 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15179 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15180 Add the current group to an Agent category
15181 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15182 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15185 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15186 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15187 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15188 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15189 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15192 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15193 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15194 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15200 @node Summary Agent Commands
15201 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15205 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15206 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15207 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15210 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15211 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15212 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15213 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15216 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15217 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15218 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15221 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15222 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15223 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15228 @node Server Agent Commands
15229 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15233 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15234 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15235 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15236 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15239 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15240 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15241 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15242 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15248 @subsection Agent Expiry
15250 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15251 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15252 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15253 @cindex Agent expiry
15254 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
15257 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
15258 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
15259 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
15260 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
15261 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
15262 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
15264 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
15265 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
15266 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
15267 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
15268 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
15271 @node Agent and IMAP
15272 @subsection Agent and IMAP
15274 The Agent work with any Gnus backend, including nnimap. However,
15275 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
15276 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
15277 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
15279 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
15280 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
15281 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
15282 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
15284 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
15285 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
15286 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
15287 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
15288 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
15290 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15291 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
15292 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
15293 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
15294 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
15295 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
15297 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
15298 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
15299 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
15300 in the group buffer by default.
15302 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
15303 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
15308 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
15311 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
15315 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
15316 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
15317 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
15318 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
15319 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
15320 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
15321 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
15322 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
15325 @node Outgoing Messages
15326 @subsection Outgoing Messages
15328 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
15329 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
15330 after posting, and edit them at will.
15332 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
15333 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
15334 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
15335 messages in the draft group.
15339 @node Agent Variables
15340 @subsection Agent Variables
15343 @item gnus-agent-directory
15344 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
15345 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
15346 @file{~/News/agent/}.
15348 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
15349 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
15350 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
15351 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
15352 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
15355 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15356 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15357 Hook run when connecting to the network.
15359 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15360 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15361 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
15366 @node Example Setup
15367 @subsection Example Setup
15369 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
15370 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
15371 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
15374 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
15375 ;;; from your ISP's server.
15376 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
15378 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
15379 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
15380 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
15382 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
15383 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15385 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
15389 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
15390 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
15393 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
15394 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
15395 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
15396 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
15397 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
15400 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
15401 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
15402 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
15403 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
15404 back all the killed groups.)
15406 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
15407 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
15408 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
15411 @node Batching Agents
15412 @subsection Batching Agents
15414 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
15415 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
15416 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
15420 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
15424 @node Agent Caveats
15425 @subsection Agent Caveats
15427 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
15428 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
15432 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
15437 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
15438 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
15444 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
15445 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
15452 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
15453 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
15454 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
15457 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
15458 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
15459 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
15460 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
15461 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
15463 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
15464 before generating the summary buffer.
15466 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
15467 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
15468 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
15470 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
15471 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
15472 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
15473 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
15476 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
15477 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
15478 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
15479 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
15480 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
15481 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
15482 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
15483 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
15484 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
15485 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
15486 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
15487 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
15488 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
15489 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
15490 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
15491 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
15495 @node Summary Score Commands
15496 @section Summary Score Commands
15497 @cindex score commands
15499 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
15500 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
15501 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
15502 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
15503 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
15505 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
15506 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
15507 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
15508 score file the current one.
15510 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
15515 @kindex V s (Summary)
15516 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
15517 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
15520 @kindex V S (Summary)
15521 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
15522 Display the score of the current article
15523 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
15526 @kindex V t (Summary)
15527 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
15528 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
15529 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
15532 @kindex V R (Summary)
15533 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
15534 Run the current summary through the scoring process
15535 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
15536 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
15537 effect you're having.
15540 @kindex V c (Summary)
15541 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
15542 Make a different score file the current
15543 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
15546 @kindex V e (Summary)
15547 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
15548 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
15549 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
15553 @kindex V f (Summary)
15554 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
15555 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
15556 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
15559 @kindex V F (Summary)
15560 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15561 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
15562 after editing score files.
15565 @kindex V C (Summary)
15566 @findex gnus-score-customize
15567 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
15568 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
15572 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
15577 @kindex V m (Summary)
15578 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
15579 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
15580 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
15583 @kindex V x (Summary)
15584 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
15585 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
15586 expunge all articles below this score
15587 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
15590 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
15591 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
15594 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
15595 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
15599 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
15600 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15602 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15603 keys are available:
15607 Score on the author name.
15610 Score on the subject line.
15613 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15616 Score on the @code{References} line.
15622 Score on the number of lines.
15625 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15628 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15629 the followups to this author.
15643 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15644 what headers you are scoring on.
15656 Substring matching.
15659 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15688 Greater than number.
15693 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15694 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15695 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15699 Temporary score entry.
15702 Permanent score entry.
15705 Immediately scoring.
15710 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15711 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15712 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15713 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15715 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15716 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15717 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15718 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15719 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15721 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15722 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15723 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15724 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15725 current score file.
15727 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15728 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15729 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15732 @node Group Score Commands
15733 @section Group Score Commands
15734 @cindex group score commands
15736 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15741 @kindex W f (Group)
15742 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15743 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15744 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15745 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15749 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15751 @findex gnus-batch-score
15752 @cindex batch scoring
15754 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15758 @node Score Variables
15759 @section Score Variables
15760 @cindex score variables
15764 @item gnus-use-scoring
15765 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15766 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15767 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15769 @item gnus-kill-killed
15770 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15771 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15772 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15773 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15774 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15775 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15776 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15778 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15779 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15780 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15781 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15782 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15784 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15785 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15786 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15787 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15789 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15790 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15791 @cindex score cache
15792 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15793 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15794 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
15795 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15796 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15797 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15800 @item gnus-save-score
15801 @vindex gnus-save-score
15802 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15803 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15804 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15806 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15807 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15808 across group visits.
15810 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15811 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15812 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15813 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15814 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15815 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15816 manually entered data.
15818 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15819 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15820 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15822 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15823 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15824 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15825 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15826 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15827 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15829 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15830 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15831 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15832 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15834 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15835 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15836 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15837 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15839 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15840 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15841 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15842 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15844 Predefined functions available are:
15847 @item gnus-score-find-single
15848 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15849 Only apply the group's own score file.
15851 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15852 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15853 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15854 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15855 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15856 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15857 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15858 then a regexp match is done.
15860 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15861 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15863 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15864 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15865 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15866 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15868 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15869 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15870 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15871 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15872 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
15876 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15877 functions will be called with the group name as argument, and all the
15878 returned lists of score files will be applied. These functions can also
15879 return lists of score alists directly. In that case, the functions that
15880 return these non-file score alists should probably be placed before the
15881 ``real'' score file functions, to ensure that the last score file
15882 returned is the local score file. Phu.
15884 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
15885 overall score file, you could use the value
15887 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
15888 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
15891 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15892 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15893 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15894 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15895 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15897 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15898 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15899 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15900 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15901 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15902 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15903 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15906 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15907 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15908 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15910 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15911 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15912 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15913 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15914 threading---according to the current value of
15915 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15916 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15917 simplified in this manner.
15922 @node Score File Format
15923 @section Score File Format
15924 @cindex score file format
15926 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15927 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15928 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15930 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15934 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15936 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15938 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15940 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15945 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15949 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15950 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15951 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15952 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15956 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15957 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15959 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15960 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15961 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15963 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15968 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15969 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15970 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15971 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15972 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15973 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15974 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15975 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15976 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15977 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15978 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15979 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15980 to articles that matches these score entries.
15982 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15983 score entry has one to four elements.
15987 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15988 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15992 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15993 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15994 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15995 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15996 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15997 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16000 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16001 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16002 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16003 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16004 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16007 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16008 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16009 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16010 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16013 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16014 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16015 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16016 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16017 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16018 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16019 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16020 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16021 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16022 instead, if you feel like.
16025 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16026 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16028 These predicates are true if
16031 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16034 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16035 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16042 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16043 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16044 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16045 it's not. I think.)
16047 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
16048 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16049 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16050 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16053 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16054 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16055 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16056 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16057 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16058 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16059 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16063 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16064 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16065 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
16066 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
16067 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
16068 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
16069 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
16070 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
16073 @item Head, Body, All
16074 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
16078 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
16079 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
16080 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
16081 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
16082 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
16083 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
16084 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
16088 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
16089 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
16090 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
16091 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
16092 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
16093 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
16094 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
16095 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
16096 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
16097 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
16098 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
16102 @cindex Score File Atoms
16104 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16105 lower than this number will be marked as read.
16108 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16109 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
16111 @item mark-and-expunge
16112 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16113 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
16116 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
16117 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
16118 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
16119 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
16120 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
16123 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
16124 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
16127 @item exclude-files
16128 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
16129 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
16133 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
16134 ignored when handling global score files.
16137 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
16138 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
16139 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
16140 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
16143 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16144 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16145 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16146 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16148 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16152 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16155 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16156 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16157 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16158 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16159 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16161 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
16162 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
16163 scoring rules exist.
16166 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16167 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16168 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16169 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16170 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16171 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16172 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16173 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16174 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16175 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16176 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16180 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16181 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16182 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16183 file for a number of groups.
16186 @cindex local variables
16187 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16188 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16189 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16190 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16191 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16195 @node Score File Editing
16196 @section Score File Editing
16198 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16199 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16200 with a mode for that.
16202 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16203 additional commands:
16208 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16209 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16210 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16211 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16214 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16215 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16216 Insert the current date in numerical format
16217 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16218 you were wondering.
16221 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16222 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16223 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16224 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16225 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16230 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16232 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16233 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16235 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16236 e} to begin editing score files.
16239 @node Adaptive Scoring
16240 @section Adaptive Scoring
16241 @cindex adaptive scoring
16243 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16244 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16245 stupidity, to be precise.
16247 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16248 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16249 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16250 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16251 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16252 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
16253 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
16254 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
16255 variable to @code{(word line)}.
16257 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16258 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
16259 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
16260 might look something like this:
16263 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16264 '((gnus-unread-mark)
16265 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
16266 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
16267 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
16268 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
16269 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
16270 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
16271 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
16272 (gnus-ancient-mark)
16273 (gnus-low-score-mark)
16274 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
16277 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
16278 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
16279 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
16280 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
16281 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
16282 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
16285 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
16286 will be applied to each article.
16288 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
16289 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
16290 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
16291 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
16293 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
16294 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
16295 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
16296 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
16298 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
16299 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
16300 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
16301 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
16303 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
16304 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
16305 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
16306 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
16307 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
16308 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
16310 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
16311 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
16312 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
16313 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
16314 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
16315 aspirins afterwards.)
16317 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
16318 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
16319 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
16321 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
16322 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
16323 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
16325 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
16326 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
16327 let you use different rules in different groups.
16329 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
16330 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
16331 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
16334 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
16335 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
16336 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
16337 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
16338 the length of the match is less than
16339 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
16340 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
16343 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16344 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
16345 headers. If you adapt on words, the
16346 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
16347 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
16350 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16351 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
16352 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
16353 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
16354 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
16357 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
16358 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
16359 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
16360 score with 30 points.
16362 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
16363 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
16364 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
16365 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
16366 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
16368 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
16369 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
16370 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
16371 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
16372 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
16374 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
16375 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
16376 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
16377 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
16379 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
16380 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
16381 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
16382 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
16384 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
16385 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
16386 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
16387 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
16388 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
16390 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
16391 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
16392 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
16394 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
16395 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
16396 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
16397 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
16400 @node Home Score File
16401 @section Home Score File
16403 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
16404 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
16405 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
16406 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
16408 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
16409 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
16410 could perhaps use the same home score file.
16412 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
16413 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
16418 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
16422 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
16423 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
16427 A list. The elements in this list can be:
16431 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
16432 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
16435 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
16436 the home score file.
16439 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
16442 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
16447 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
16450 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16451 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
16454 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
16455 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
16457 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
16459 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16460 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
16463 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
16464 Other functions include
16467 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
16468 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
16469 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
16470 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
16474 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
16475 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
16476 their own home score files:
16479 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16480 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
16481 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
16482 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
16483 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
16486 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
16487 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
16488 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
16489 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
16490 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
16492 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
16493 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
16494 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
16495 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
16496 precedence over this variable.
16499 @node Followups To Yourself
16500 @section Followups To Yourself
16502 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
16503 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
16504 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
16505 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
16506 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
16507 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
16511 @item gnus-score-followup-article
16512 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
16513 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
16516 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
16517 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
16518 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
16522 @vindex message-sent-hook
16523 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
16524 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
16526 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
16530 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
16531 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
16535 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16536 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16539 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
16540 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
16545 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
16549 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
16550 is system-dependent.
16554 @section Scoring Tips
16555 @cindex scoring tips
16561 @cindex scoring crossposts
16562 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
16563 the @code{Xref} header.
16565 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
16568 @item Multiple crossposts
16569 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
16570 more than, say, 3 groups:
16573 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
16577 @item Matching on the body
16578 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
16579 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
16580 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
16581 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
16582 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
16583 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
16584 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
16587 @item Marking as read
16588 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
16589 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
16590 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
16594 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
16596 @item Negated character classes
16597 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
16598 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
16599 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
16603 @node Reverse Scoring
16604 @section Reverse Scoring
16605 @cindex reverse scoring
16607 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
16608 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
16609 like this in your score file:
16613 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
16618 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
16619 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16622 @node Global Score Files
16623 @section Global Score Files
16624 @cindex global score files
16626 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16627 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16628 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16630 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16631 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16632 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16634 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16635 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16636 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16637 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16638 files are applicable to which group.
16640 To use the score file
16641 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16642 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
16646 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16647 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16648 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16651 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16653 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16654 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16655 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16656 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16658 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16659 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16661 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16662 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16663 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16664 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16665 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16666 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16668 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16674 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16676 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16678 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16680 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16681 lowered out of existence.
16683 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16684 articles completely.
16687 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16688 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16689 old articles for a long time.
16692 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16693 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16694 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16695 holding our breath yet?
16699 @section Kill Files
16702 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16703 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16704 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16706 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16707 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16708 files into score files.
16710 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16711 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16712 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16713 that isn't a very good idea.
16715 Normal kill files look like this:
16718 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16719 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16723 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16724 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16726 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16727 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16730 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16735 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16736 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16737 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16740 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16741 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16742 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16745 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16750 @kindex M-k (Group)
16751 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16752 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16755 @kindex M-K (Group)
16756 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16757 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16760 Kill file variables:
16763 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16764 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16765 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16766 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16767 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16768 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16769 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16771 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16772 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16773 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16774 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16777 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16778 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16779 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16780 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16781 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16782 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16783 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16784 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16785 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16787 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16788 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16789 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16794 @node Converting Kill Files
16795 @section Converting Kill Files
16797 @cindex converting kill files
16799 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16800 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16801 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16804 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16805 You can fetch it from
16806 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
16808 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16809 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16810 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16818 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16819 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16820 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16822 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16823 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16824 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16825 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16826 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16827 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16828 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16829 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16833 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16834 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16835 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16836 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16840 @node Using GroupLens
16841 @subsection Using GroupLens
16843 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16845 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16846 better bit in town at the moment.
16848 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16852 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16853 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16854 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16855 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16857 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16858 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16859 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16860 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16862 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16863 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16864 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16868 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16869 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16870 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16871 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16872 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16873 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16876 @node Rating Articles
16877 @subsection Rating Articles
16879 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16880 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16881 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16882 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16885 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16890 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16891 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16892 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16895 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16896 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16897 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16898 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16899 threads in rec.humor.
16903 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16904 the score of the article you're reading.
16909 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16910 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16911 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16914 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16915 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16916 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16920 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16921 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16924 @node Displaying Predictions
16925 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16927 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16928 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16929 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16930 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16931 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16933 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16934 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16935 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16936 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16937 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16938 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16939 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16940 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16941 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16942 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16943 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16944 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16945 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16947 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16948 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16949 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16950 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16952 The following are valid values for that variable.
16955 @item prediction-spot
16956 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16959 @item confidence-interval
16960 A numeric confidence interval.
16962 @item prediction-bar
16963 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16965 @item confidence-bar
16966 Numerical confidence.
16968 @item confidence-spot
16969 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16971 @item prediction-num
16972 Plain-old numeric value.
16974 @item confidence-plus-minus
16975 Prediction +/- confidence.
16980 @node GroupLens Variables
16981 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16985 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16986 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16987 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16988 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16991 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16992 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16995 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16996 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16998 @item grouplens-score-offset
16999 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17000 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17003 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17004 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17005 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17010 @node Advanced Scoring
17011 @section Advanced Scoring
17013 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17014 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17015 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17016 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17017 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
17019 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
17023 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
17024 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
17025 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
17029 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
17030 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
17032 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
17033 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
17034 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
17035 non-@code{nil} value.
17037 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
17038 operator, and various match operators.
17045 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17046 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
17047 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
17052 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17053 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
17054 then this operator will return @code{false}.
17059 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
17060 logical negation of the value of its argument.
17064 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
17065 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
17066 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
17067 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
17068 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
17069 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
17070 the ancestry you want to go.
17072 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
17073 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
17074 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
17075 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
17076 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
17079 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
17080 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
17082 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
17083 when he's talking about Gnus:
17087 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17088 ("subject" "Gnus"))
17094 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
17098 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17105 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
17106 really don't want to read what he's written:
17110 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17111 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
17115 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
17116 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
17117 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
17124 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
17125 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
17126 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
17127 ("body" "white.*socks"))
17131 The possibilities are endless.
17134 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
17135 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
17137 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
17138 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
17139 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
17140 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
17141 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
17142 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
17143 @samp{subject}) first.
17145 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
17146 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17157 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17158 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17164 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17171 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
17172 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17177 @section Score Decays
17178 @cindex score decays
17181 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17182 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17183 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17184 use them in any sensible way.
17186 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17187 @findex gnus-decay-score
17188 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17189 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17190 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17191 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17192 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17193 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17194 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17195 definition of that function:
17198 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17200 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17201 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17204 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17206 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17208 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17211 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17212 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17213 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17214 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
17218 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
17221 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
17224 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
17228 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
17229 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
17230 the new score, which should be an integer.
17232 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
17233 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
17240 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
17241 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
17242 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
17243 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
17244 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
17245 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
17246 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
17247 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
17248 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
17249 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
17250 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
17251 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
17252 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
17253 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
17254 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
17255 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
17256 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
17257 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
17261 @node Process/Prefix
17262 @section Process/Prefix
17263 @cindex process/prefix convention
17265 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
17266 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
17268 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
17269 command to be performed on.
17273 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
17274 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
17275 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
17276 with the current one.
17278 @vindex transient-mark-mode
17279 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
17280 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
17282 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
17283 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
17286 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
17287 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
17289 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
17292 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
17293 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
17294 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
17295 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17297 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
17298 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
17299 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
17300 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
17301 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
17302 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
17303 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
17304 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
17306 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
17307 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
17308 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
17309 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
17310 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
17314 @section Interactive
17315 @cindex interaction
17319 @item gnus-novice-user
17320 @vindex gnus-novice-user
17321 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
17322 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
17323 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
17324 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
17327 @item gnus-expert-user
17328 @vindex gnus-expert-user
17329 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
17330 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
17331 matter how strange.
17333 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
17334 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
17335 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
17336 is @code{t} by default.
17338 @item gnus-interactive-exit
17339 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
17340 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17345 @node Symbolic Prefixes
17346 @section Symbolic Prefixes
17347 @cindex symbolic prefixes
17349 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
17350 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
17351 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
17352 rule of 900 to the current article.
17354 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
17355 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
17356 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
17357 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
17358 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
17359 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
17360 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
17362 @kindex M-i (Summary)
17363 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
17364 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
17365 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
17366 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
17367 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
17368 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
17369 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
17370 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
17372 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
17373 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
17374 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
17376 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
17380 @node Formatting Variables
17381 @section Formatting Variables
17382 @cindex formatting variables
17384 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
17385 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
17386 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
17387 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
17388 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
17391 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
17392 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
17393 lots of percentages everywhere.
17396 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
17397 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
17398 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
17399 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
17400 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
17403 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
17404 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
17405 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
17406 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
17407 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
17408 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
17409 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
17410 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
17412 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
17413 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
17415 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
17416 @findex gnus-update-format
17417 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
17418 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
17419 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
17420 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
17424 @node Formatting Basics
17425 @subsection Formatting Basics
17427 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
17428 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
17429 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
17431 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
17432 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
17433 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
17434 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
17435 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
17438 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
17439 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
17440 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
17441 less than 4 characters wide.
17444 @node Mode Line Formatting
17445 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
17447 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
17448 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
17449 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
17450 with the following two differences:
17455 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
17458 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
17459 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
17460 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
17461 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
17462 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
17463 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
17464 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
17469 @node Advanced Formatting
17470 @subsection Advanced Formatting
17472 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
17473 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
17474 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
17475 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
17477 These are the valid modifiers:
17482 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
17486 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
17491 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
17494 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
17499 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
17502 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
17505 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
17508 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
17512 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
17513 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
17514 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
17515 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
17516 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
17517 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
17518 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
17520 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
17521 last operation, padding.
17523 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
17524 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
17525 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
17526 @xref{Compilation}.
17529 @node User-Defined Specs
17530 @subsection User-Defined Specs
17532 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
17533 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
17534 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
17535 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
17536 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
17537 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
17538 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
17539 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
17540 should protect against that.
17542 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
17543 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
17544 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
17545 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
17549 @node Formatting Fonts
17550 @subsection Formatting Fonts
17552 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
17553 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
17554 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
17555 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
17558 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
17559 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
17560 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
17561 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
17562 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
17563 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
17565 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
17566 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
17567 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
17568 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
17569 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
17570 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
17571 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
17572 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
17574 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
17577 ;; Create three face types.
17578 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
17579 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
17581 ;; We want the article count to be in
17582 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
17583 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
17584 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
17586 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
17587 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
17589 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
17590 (setq gnus-group-line-format
17591 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
17594 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
17595 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
17597 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
17598 mode-line variables.
17601 @node Windows Configuration
17602 @section Windows Configuration
17603 @cindex windows configuration
17605 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
17607 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
17608 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
17609 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
17610 @code{t} by default.
17612 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
17613 glitches. Use at your own peril.
17615 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
17616 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
17617 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
17620 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
17621 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
17622 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17626 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17627 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17628 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17629 possible names is listed below.
17631 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17632 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17635 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17639 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17640 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17641 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17642 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17643 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17644 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17645 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17646 size spec per split.
17648 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17649 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17650 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17651 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17652 present) gets focus.
17654 Here's a more complicated example:
17657 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17658 (summary 0.25 point)
17659 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17663 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17664 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17665 occupy, not a percentage.
17667 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17668 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17669 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17670 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17671 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17674 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17677 (article (horizontal 1.0
17682 (summary 0.25 point)
17687 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17688 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17690 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17691 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17692 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17693 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17694 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17696 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17697 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17698 lines from the splits.
17700 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17704 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17705 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17706 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17707 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17708 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17709 size = number | frame-params
17710 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
17713 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17714 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17715 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17716 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17718 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17719 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17720 @cindex window height
17721 @cindex window width
17722 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17723 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17724 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17725 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17726 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17727 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17729 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17730 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17731 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17732 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17734 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17735 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17736 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17737 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17738 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17739 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17740 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17741 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17742 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17743 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17744 configuration list.
17747 (gnus-configure-frame
17751 (article 0.3 point))
17759 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17760 @code{frame} split:
17763 (gnus-configure-frame
17766 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17768 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17769 (user-position . t)
17770 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17775 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17776 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17777 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17778 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17779 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17780 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17781 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17782 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17784 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17785 be found in its default value.
17787 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17788 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17789 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17793 (message (horizontal 1.0
17794 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17796 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17801 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17802 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17803 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17808 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17809 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17810 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17811 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17812 (name . "Message"))
17813 (message 1.0 point))))
17816 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17817 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17818 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17819 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17820 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17823 (gnus-add-configuration
17824 '(article (vertical 1.0
17826 (summary .25 point)
17830 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17831 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17832 Gnus has been loaded.
17834 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17835 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17836 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17837 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17838 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17840 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17841 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17842 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17845 @subsection Example Window Configurations
17849 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
17850 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
17865 (gnus-add-configuration
17868 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17870 (summary 0.16 point)
17873 (gnus-add-configuration
17876 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17877 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
17883 @node Faces and Fonts
17884 @section Faces and Fonts
17889 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17890 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17891 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17896 @section Compilation
17897 @cindex compilation
17898 @cindex byte-compilation
17900 @findex gnus-compile
17902 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17903 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17904 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
17905 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17906 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17907 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17910 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17911 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17912 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17913 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
17914 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
17915 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
17916 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
17920 @section Mode Lines
17923 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17924 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17925 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17926 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17927 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17928 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17929 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17932 @cindex display-time
17934 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17935 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17936 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17937 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17938 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17939 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17940 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17941 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17944 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17946 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17947 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17949 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17950 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17951 (length display-time-string)))))
17954 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17955 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17956 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17957 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17958 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17961 @node Highlighting and Menus
17962 @section Highlighting and Menus
17964 @cindex highlighting
17967 @vindex gnus-visual
17968 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17969 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17970 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17973 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17974 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17977 @item group-highlight
17978 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17979 @item summary-highlight
17980 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17981 @item article-highlight
17982 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17984 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17986 Create menus in the group buffer.
17988 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17990 Create menus in the article buffer.
17992 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17994 Create menus in the server buffer.
17996 Create menus in the score buffers.
17998 Create menus in all buffers.
18001 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
18002 buffers, you could say something like:
18005 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
18008 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
18011 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
18014 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
18015 in all Gnus buffers.
18017 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
18020 @item gnus-mouse-face
18021 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
18022 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
18023 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
18027 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
18031 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
18032 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
18033 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
18035 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
18036 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
18037 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
18039 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
18040 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
18041 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
18043 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
18044 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
18045 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
18047 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
18048 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
18049 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
18051 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
18052 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
18053 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
18064 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
18065 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
18066 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
18067 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
18068 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
18072 @vindex gnus-carpal
18073 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
18074 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
18075 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
18080 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18081 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18082 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
18084 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
18085 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
18086 Face used on buttons.
18088 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
18089 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
18090 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
18092 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18093 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18094 Buttons in the group buffer.
18096 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18097 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18098 Buttons in the summary buffer.
18100 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18101 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18102 Buttons in the server buffer.
18104 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18105 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18106 Buttons in the browse buffer.
18109 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
18110 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
18111 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
18119 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
18120 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
18121 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
18122 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
18123 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
18125 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
18126 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
18127 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
18129 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
18130 been idle for thirty minutes:
18133 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
18136 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
18140 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
18143 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
18144 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
18145 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18147 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
18148 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
18149 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
18150 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18152 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
18153 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
18154 @var{idle} minutes.
18156 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
18157 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
18160 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
18161 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
18162 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
18164 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
18165 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
18166 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
18167 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
18169 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
18170 your @file{.gnus} file:
18172 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
18174 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
18177 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
18178 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
18179 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
18180 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
18181 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
18182 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
18183 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
18184 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
18185 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
18186 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
18187 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
18189 @findex gnus-demon-init
18190 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
18191 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
18192 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
18193 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
18194 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
18196 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
18197 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
18198 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
18207 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
18208 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
18210 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
18211 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
18212 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
18213 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
18216 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
18217 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
18218 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
18219 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
18221 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
18222 this will make spam disappear.
18224 There are some variables to customize, of course:
18227 @item gnus-use-nocem
18228 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
18229 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
18232 @item gnus-nocem-groups
18233 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
18234 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
18235 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
18236 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
18238 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
18239 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
18240 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
18241 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
18242 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
18243 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
18245 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
18246 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
18248 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
18249 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
18250 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
18251 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
18252 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
18253 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
18254 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
18255 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
18256 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
18257 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
18259 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
18260 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
18263 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
18266 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
18267 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
18270 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
18273 The specs are applied left-to-right.
18276 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
18277 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
18279 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
18280 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
18281 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
18282 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
18284 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
18285 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
18288 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
18290 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
18298 This might be dangerous, though.
18300 @item gnus-nocem-directory
18301 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
18302 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
18303 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
18305 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18306 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18307 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
18308 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
18309 might then see old spam.
18311 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
18312 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
18313 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
18314 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
18315 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
18318 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18319 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18320 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
18321 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
18325 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
18326 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
18327 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
18328 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
18335 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
18336 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
18337 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
18339 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
18340 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
18341 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
18342 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
18343 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
18344 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
18345 @code{undo} function.
18347 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
18348 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
18349 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
18350 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
18351 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
18352 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
18353 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
18354 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
18355 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
18356 never be totally undoable.
18358 @findex gnus-undo-mode
18359 @vindex gnus-use-undo
18361 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
18362 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
18363 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
18364 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
18369 @section Moderation
18372 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
18373 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
18374 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
18377 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
18381 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
18384 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18386 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
18391 You split your incoming mail by matching on
18392 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
18393 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
18396 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
18397 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
18400 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
18401 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
18405 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
18408 (setq gnus-moderated-list
18409 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
18413 @node XEmacs Enhancements
18414 @section XEmacs Enhancements
18417 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
18421 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
18422 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
18423 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
18424 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
18437 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
18438 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
18439 over your shoulder as you read news.
18442 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
18443 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
18444 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
18445 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
18446 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
18451 @subsubsection Picon Basics
18453 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
18462 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
18463 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
18464 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
18465 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
18466 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
18467 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
18468 @code{GIF} formats.
18471 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18472 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
18473 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
18474 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
18475 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
18477 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18478 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
18479 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
18480 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
18481 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
18482 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18485 @node Picon Requirements
18486 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
18488 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
18489 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
18492 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
18493 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
18494 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
18496 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18497 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
18498 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
18499 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
18500 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
18504 @subsubsection Easy Picons
18506 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
18507 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
18510 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
18511 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
18514 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
18515 containing the Picons databases.
18517 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
18520 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18521 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
18526 @subsubsection Hard Picons
18534 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
18535 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
18536 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
18537 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
18538 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
18543 @item gnus-picons-database
18544 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18545 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
18546 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
18547 subdirectories. This is only useful if
18548 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
18549 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
18551 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18552 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18553 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
18554 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
18555 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
18556 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
18557 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18559 @item gnus-picons-display-where
18560 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18561 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
18562 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
18563 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
18564 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
18565 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
18566 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
18568 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18569 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18570 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
18575 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
18576 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
18578 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
18579 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
18582 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18584 @item gnus-article-display-picons
18585 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18586 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
18587 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
18589 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
18590 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18591 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
18597 @node Picon Useless Configuration
18598 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
18606 The following variables offer further control over how things are
18607 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
18608 don't need to worry about.
18612 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
18613 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
18614 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18615 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
18617 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
18618 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
18619 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
18620 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
18622 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
18623 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
18624 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18625 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
18626 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
18628 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18629 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18630 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
18631 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
18632 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
18633 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
18634 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
18636 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18637 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18638 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
18639 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
18641 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18642 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18643 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
18644 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
18645 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
18646 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
18647 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
18649 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18650 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18651 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18652 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18654 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18655 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18656 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18657 Defaults to @code{t}.
18659 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18660 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18661 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18662 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18664 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18665 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18666 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18668 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18669 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18670 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18671 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18673 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18674 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
18676 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18677 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18678 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18679 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18680 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18681 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18682 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18683 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18694 @subsection Smileys
18699 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18704 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18705 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18707 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18708 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18711 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18714 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18715 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18716 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18717 text and maps that to file names.
18719 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18720 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18721 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18722 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18723 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18724 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18726 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18727 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18729 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18730 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18731 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18733 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18734 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18738 @item smiley-data-directory
18739 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18740 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18742 @item smiley-flesh-color
18743 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18744 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18746 @item smiley-features-color
18747 @vindex smiley-features-color
18748 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18750 @item smiley-tongue-color
18751 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18752 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18754 @item smiley-circle-color
18755 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18756 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18758 @item smiley-mouse-face
18759 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18760 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18766 @subsection Toolbar
18776 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18777 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18778 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18779 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18780 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18782 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18783 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18784 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18786 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18787 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18788 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18790 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18791 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18792 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18798 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18801 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18802 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18803 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18804 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18805 unusual directory structure.
18807 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18808 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18809 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18810 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18812 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18813 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18814 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18815 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18816 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18817 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18819 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18820 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18821 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18835 @node Fuzzy Matching
18836 @section Fuzzy Matching
18837 @cindex fuzzy matching
18839 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18840 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18842 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18843 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18844 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18846 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18847 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18848 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18849 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18850 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18853 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18854 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18858 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18860 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18861 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18862 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18863 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18864 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18865 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18866 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18867 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18870 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18871 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18872 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18873 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18874 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18875 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18879 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18880 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18882 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18883 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18884 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18885 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18886 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18887 part of the mail address.)
18890 (setq message-default-news-headers
18891 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18894 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18895 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18900 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18901 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18902 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18908 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18909 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18910 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18911 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18913 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18914 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18915 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18916 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18917 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18918 your fancy split rule in this way:
18923 (to "larsi" "misc")
18927 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18928 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18929 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18930 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18931 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18933 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18934 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18935 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
18936 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18937 cosmic balance somewhat.
18939 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18940 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18941 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18942 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18945 @node Various Various
18946 @section Various Various
18952 @item gnus-home-directory
18953 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18954 defaults to @file{~/}.
18956 @item gnus-directory
18957 @vindex gnus-directory
18958 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18959 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18960 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18962 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18963 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18964 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18965 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18967 @item gnus-default-directory
18968 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18969 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18970 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18971 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18972 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18973 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18974 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18977 @vindex gnus-verbose
18978 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18979 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18980 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18981 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18982 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18984 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18985 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18986 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18987 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18989 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18990 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18991 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18992 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18993 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18994 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18995 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18996 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18997 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18998 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
19000 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
19001 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
19002 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
19003 read when doing the operation described above.
19005 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19006 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19008 @cindex invalid characters in file names
19009 @cindex characters in file names
19010 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
19011 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
19012 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
19015 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19019 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
19020 Windows (phooey) systems.
19022 @item gnus-hidden-properties
19023 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
19024 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
19025 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
19026 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
19028 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
19029 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
19030 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
19031 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
19032 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
19034 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
19035 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
19036 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
19038 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19039 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19041 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
19042 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
19043 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
19044 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
19047 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
19056 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
19057 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
19059 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
19061 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
19067 Not because of victories @*
19070 but for the common sunshine,@*
19072 the largess of the spring.
19076 but for the day's work done@*
19077 as well as I was able;@*
19078 not for a seat upon the dais@*
19079 but at the common table.@*
19084 @chapter Appendices
19087 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
19088 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
19089 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
19090 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
19091 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
19092 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
19093 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
19094 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
19102 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
19103 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
19105 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
19106 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
19107 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
19108 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
19109 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
19111 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
19112 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
19113 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
19114 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
19115 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
19116 appropriate name, don't you think?)
19118 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
19119 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
19120 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
19121 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
19124 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
19125 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
19126 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
19127 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
19128 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
19129 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
19130 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
19131 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
19132 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
19136 @node Gnus Versions
19137 @subsection Gnus Versions
19138 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
19140 @cindex September Gnus
19141 @cindex Quassia Gnus
19143 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
19144 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
19145 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
19147 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
19148 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
19150 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
19151 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
19153 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
19154 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
19156 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
19157 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
19160 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
19162 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
19163 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
19164 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
19165 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
19166 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
19167 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
19170 @node Other Gnus Versions
19171 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
19174 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
19175 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
19176 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
19177 @sc{mime} capabilities.
19179 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
19180 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
19181 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
19182 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
19189 What's the point of Gnus?
19191 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
19192 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
19193 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
19194 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
19195 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
19196 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
19197 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
19198 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
19199 keep track of millions of people who post?
19201 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
19202 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
19203 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
19204 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
19205 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
19206 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
19207 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
19208 every one of you to explore and invent.
19210 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
19211 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
19214 @node Compatibility
19215 @subsection Compatibility
19217 @cindex compatibility
19218 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
19219 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
19220 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
19225 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
19229 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
19232 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
19235 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
19236 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
19237 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
19238 important variables have their values copied into their global
19239 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
19240 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
19242 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
19243 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
19244 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
19245 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
19246 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
19250 @cindex highlighting
19251 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
19252 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
19253 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
19254 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
19255 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
19256 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
19259 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
19260 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
19261 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
19262 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
19264 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
19265 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
19266 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
19267 to stop doing it the old way.
19269 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
19271 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19273 @cindex reporting bugs
19275 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
19276 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
19277 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
19279 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
19280 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
19281 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
19282 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
19287 @subsection Conformity
19289 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
19290 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
19297 There are no known breaches of this standard.
19301 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
19303 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
19304 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
19305 We do have some breaches to this one.
19311 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
19312 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
19313 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
19314 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
19315 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
19320 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
19321 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
19322 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
19323 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
19327 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
19328 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
19333 @subsection Emacsen
19339 Gnus should work on :
19347 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
19351 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
19352 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
19355 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
19356 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
19357 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
19361 @node Gnus Development
19362 @subsection Gnus Development
19364 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
19365 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
19366 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
19367 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
19368 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
19369 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
19370 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
19371 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
19373 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
19374 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
19375 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
19376 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
19377 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
19380 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
19381 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
19382 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
19383 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
19384 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
19386 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
19387 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
19388 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
19389 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
19390 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
19391 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
19392 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
19393 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
19394 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
19395 can't be assumed to do so.
19400 @subsection Contributors
19401 @cindex contributors
19403 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
19404 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
19405 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
19406 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
19407 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
19408 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
19409 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
19410 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
19411 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
19412 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
19414 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
19420 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
19423 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
19424 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
19425 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
19426 functionality and stuff.
19429 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
19430 well as numerous other things).
19433 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
19436 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
19439 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
19442 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
19443 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
19446 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
19449 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
19450 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19453 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
19456 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
19459 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
19462 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
19465 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
19466 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
19469 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
19472 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
19475 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
19478 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
19482 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
19485 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
19488 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
19491 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
19492 well as autoconf support.
19496 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
19497 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
19499 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
19508 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
19512 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
19522 Alexei V. Barantsev,
19537 Massimo Campostrini,
19542 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
19543 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
19547 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
19550 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
19556 Michael Welsh Duggan,
19561 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
19565 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
19573 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
19575 Michelangelo Grigni,
19579 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
19581 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
19583 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
19590 François Felix Ingrand,
19591 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
19592 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
19594 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
19605 Peter Skov Knudsen,
19606 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
19608 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
19609 Thor Kristoffersen,
19612 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
19630 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
19631 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
19638 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
19643 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
19647 John McClary Prevost,
19653 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19658 Christian von Roques,
19661 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19668 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19670 Randal L. Schwartz,
19684 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19689 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19705 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19710 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19711 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19712 (550kB and counting).
19714 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19717 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19718 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19722 @subsection New Features
19723 @cindex new features
19726 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19727 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
19728 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19729 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19730 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
19733 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19734 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19735 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19738 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19740 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19745 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19746 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19749 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19750 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19753 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19756 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19757 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19758 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19761 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19762 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19763 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19764 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19767 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19768 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19771 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19772 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19773 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19776 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19777 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19780 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19781 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19782 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19785 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19786 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19787 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19790 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19791 the @file{.emacs} file.
19794 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19795 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19798 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19799 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19802 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19803 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19806 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19807 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19810 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19811 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19814 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19817 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19818 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19821 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19822 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19825 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19826 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19829 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19832 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19833 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19836 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19840 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19844 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19845 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19848 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19854 @node September Gnus
19855 @subsubsection September Gnus
19859 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19863 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19868 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19869 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19873 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19874 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19878 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19882 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19883 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19886 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19890 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19893 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19896 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19899 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19903 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19904 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19907 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19911 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19915 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19919 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19923 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19926 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19927 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19930 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19934 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19935 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19938 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19941 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19942 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19943 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19946 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19950 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19953 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19957 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19958 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19961 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19962 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19965 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19966 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19969 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19970 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19971 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19974 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19975 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19978 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19981 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19984 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19987 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19990 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19991 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19994 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19998 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
20001 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
20006 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
20009 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
20013 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20016 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
20020 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
20023 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
20026 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
20027 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20030 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
20031 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
20035 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
20036 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
20039 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
20043 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
20044 buffer to allow easier treatment.
20047 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
20050 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
20054 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
20058 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
20059 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
20062 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
20066 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
20067 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20070 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
20071 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20074 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
20078 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20081 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
20084 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
20090 @subsubsection Red Gnus
20092 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
20096 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
20103 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
20106 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
20107 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20110 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
20111 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
20115 Article washing status can be displayed in the
20116 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
20119 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
20122 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
20123 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
20126 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
20130 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
20131 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
20135 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
20136 Server Internals}).
20139 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
20143 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
20146 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
20147 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
20150 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
20151 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
20152 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
20155 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
20156 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20159 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
20160 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
20163 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
20167 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
20168 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20171 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
20172 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20175 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
20179 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
20182 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
20186 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
20187 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20190 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
20191 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20194 A new command for reading collections of documents
20195 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
20196 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
20199 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
20203 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
20204 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
20207 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
20208 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
20209 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
20212 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
20213 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
20217 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
20221 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
20225 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
20230 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
20234 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
20238 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
20239 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
20242 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
20248 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
20250 New features in Gnus 5.6:
20255 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
20256 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
20257 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
20260 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
20261 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
20262 group, which is created automatically.
20265 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
20269 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
20272 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
20273 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
20276 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
20280 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
20283 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
20284 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
20287 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
20290 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
20291 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
20294 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
20295 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
20298 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
20299 control over simplification.
20302 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
20305 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
20309 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
20312 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
20315 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
20316 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
20317 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
20320 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
20321 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
20324 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
20328 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
20329 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
20332 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
20333 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
20336 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
20340 A history of where mails have been split is available.
20343 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
20346 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
20347 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
20350 A new function for citing in Message has been
20351 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
20354 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
20357 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
20361 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
20362 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
20365 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
20366 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
20369 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
20372 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
20376 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
20377 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
20379 New features in Gnus 5.8:
20383 @item The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
20384 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
20386 If you used procmail like in
20389 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
20390 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
20391 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
20392 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
20395 this now has changed to
20399 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
20403 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
20404 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
20406 @item Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
20407 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
20409 @item Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
20410 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
20412 @item @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
20413 called to position point.
20415 @item The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
20416 summary buffers and NOV files.
20418 @item @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
20419 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
20421 @item The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
20422 subtly different manner.
20424 @item New web-based backends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
20425 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
20426 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
20428 @item Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
20436 @section The Manual
20440 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20441 either @code{texi2dvi}
20443 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20444 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20446 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20448 The following conventions have been used:
20453 This is a @samp{string}
20456 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20459 This is a @file{file}
20462 This is a @code{symbol}
20466 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20470 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20473 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20476 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20479 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20480 ever get them confused.
20484 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20485 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20486 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20487 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20488 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20489 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20490 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20496 @node On Writing Manuals
20497 @section On Writing Manuals
20499 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20500 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20501 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20502 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20503 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20504 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20507 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20508 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20509 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20512 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20513 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20518 @section Terminology
20520 @cindex terminology
20525 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20526 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20527 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20528 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20529 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20533 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20534 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20535 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20536 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20540 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20544 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20549 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20550 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20551 is all done by the backends.
20555 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20556 default, way of getting news.
20560 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20561 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20566 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20567 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20571 A message that has been posted as news.
20574 @cindex mail message
20575 A message that has been mailed.
20579 A mail message or news article
20583 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20588 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20593 A line from the head of an article.
20597 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20598 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20602 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20603 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20604 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20605 normal @sc{head} format.
20609 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20610 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20611 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20612 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20613 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20614 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20616 @item killed groups
20617 @cindex killed groups
20618 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20619 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20621 @item zombie groups
20622 @cindex zombie groups
20623 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20626 @cindex active file
20627 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20628 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20629 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20632 @cindex bogus groups
20633 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20634 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20635 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20638 @cindex activating groups
20639 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20640 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20641 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20645 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20647 @item select method
20648 @cindex select method
20649 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20652 @item virtual server
20653 @cindex virtual server
20654 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20655 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20656 whole is a virtual server.
20660 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20661 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20664 @item ephemeral groups
20665 @cindex ephemeral groups
20666 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20667 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20668 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20671 @cindex solid groups
20672 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20673 group buffer are solid groups.
20675 @item sparse articles
20676 @cindex sparse articles
20677 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20678 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20682 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20683 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20687 @cindex thread root
20688 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20689 articles in the thread.
20693 An article that has responses.
20697 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20701 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20702 specified by RFC 1153.
20708 @node Customization
20709 @section Customization
20710 @cindex general customization
20712 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20713 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20714 for some quite common situations.
20717 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20718 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20719 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20720 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20724 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20725 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20727 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20728 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20729 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20733 @item gnus-read-active-file
20734 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20735 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20736 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20737 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20738 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20740 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20741 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20742 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20743 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20747 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20748 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20750 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20751 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20752 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20756 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20757 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20758 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20759 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20760 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20762 @item gnus-visible-headers
20763 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20764 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20765 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20766 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20768 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20770 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20771 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20772 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20775 @item gnus-use-full-window
20776 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20777 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20778 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20779 want to read them anyway.
20781 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20782 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20785 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20786 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20787 lines, which might save some time.
20791 @node Little Disk Space
20792 @subsection Little Disk Space
20795 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20796 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20800 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20801 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20802 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20803 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20806 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20807 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20808 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20809 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20812 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20813 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20814 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20815 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20816 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20822 @subsection Slow Machine
20823 @cindex slow machine
20825 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20826 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20828 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20829 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20831 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20832 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20833 summary buffer faster.
20837 @node Troubleshooting
20838 @section Troubleshooting
20839 @cindex troubleshooting
20841 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20849 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20852 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20853 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20857 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20858 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20859 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20860 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20863 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20867 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20868 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20869 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20870 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20871 something like that.
20874 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20877 @cindex reporting bugs
20879 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20881 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20882 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20883 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20884 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20886 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20887 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20888 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20889 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20892 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20893 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20894 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20895 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20896 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20897 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20899 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20900 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20901 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20904 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20905 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20907 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20908 @cindex ding mailing list
20909 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20910 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20914 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20915 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20917 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20918 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20919 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20920 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20923 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20924 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20925 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20926 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20927 and general methods of operation.
20930 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20931 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20932 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20933 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20934 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20935 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20936 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20937 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20938 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20942 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20943 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20944 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20945 @cindex utility functions
20947 @cindex internal variables
20949 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20950 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20951 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20955 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20956 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20957 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20959 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20960 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20961 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20963 @item gnus-group-real-name
20964 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20965 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20968 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20969 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20970 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20971 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20973 @item gnus-get-info
20974 @findex gnus-get-info
20975 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20977 @item gnus-group-unread
20978 @findex gnus-group-unread
20979 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20983 @findex gnus-active
20984 The active entry for @var{group}.
20986 @item gnus-set-active
20987 @findex gnus-set-active
20988 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20990 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20991 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20992 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20995 @item gnus-continuum-version
20996 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20997 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20998 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21001 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21002 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21003 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21005 @item gnus-news-group-p
21006 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21007 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21009 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21010 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21011 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21013 @item gnus-server-to-method
21014 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21015 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21017 @item gnus-server-equal
21018 @findex gnus-server-equal
21019 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21021 @item gnus-group-native-p
21022 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21023 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21025 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21026 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21027 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21029 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21030 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21031 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21033 @item group-group-find-parameter
21034 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21035 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21036 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21038 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21039 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21040 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21042 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21043 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21044 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21046 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21047 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21048 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21049 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21052 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21056 @item gnus-read-method
21057 @findex gnus-read-method
21058 Prompts the user for a select method.
21063 @node Backend Interface
21064 @subsection Backend Interface
21066 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21067 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21068 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21069 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21070 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21071 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21073 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21074 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21075 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21076 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21077 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21078 been opened, the function should fail.
21080 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21081 name. Take this example:
21085 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21086 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21089 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21090 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21092 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21093 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21094 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21096 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21097 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21098 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21100 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21101 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21102 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21103 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21104 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21105 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21108 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21109 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21110 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21111 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21114 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21117 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21120 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21121 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21122 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21123 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21124 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21125 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21129 @node Required Backend Functions
21130 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21134 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21136 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21137 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21138 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21139 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21141 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21142 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21143 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21144 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21146 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21147 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21148 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21149 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21150 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21151 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21152 number, do maximum fetches.
21154 Here's an example HEAD:
21157 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21158 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21159 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21160 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21161 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21162 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21163 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21165 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21166 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21167 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21171 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21172 these in the data buffer.
21174 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21178 head = error / valid-head
21179 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21180 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21181 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21182 header = <text> eol
21185 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21186 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21190 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21191 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21192 field = <text except TAB>
21195 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21199 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21201 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21202 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21204 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21205 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21206 server. In fact, it should do so.
21208 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21209 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21212 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21214 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21215 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21218 There should be no data returned.
21221 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21223 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21224 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21225 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21226 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21228 There should be no data returned.
21231 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21233 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21234 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21235 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21236 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21238 There should be no data returned.
21241 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21243 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21245 There should be no data returned.
21248 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21250 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21251 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21252 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21253 it would be nice if that were possible.
21255 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21256 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21257 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21258 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21259 into its article buffer.
21261 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21262 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21263 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21264 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21265 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21266 on successful article retrieval.
21269 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21271 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21272 making @var{group} the current group.
21274 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21277 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21280 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21283 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21284 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21285 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21286 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21287 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21288 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21289 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21290 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21293 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21294 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21295 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21299 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21301 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21302 a no-op on most backends.
21304 There should be no data returned.
21307 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21309 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21312 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21315 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21316 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21319 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21320 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21323 active-file = *active-line
21324 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21326 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21329 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21330 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21331 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21334 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21336 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21337 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21338 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21339 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21340 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21341 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21343 There should be no result data from this function.
21348 @node Optional Backend Functions
21349 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21353 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21355 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21356 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21357 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21359 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21360 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21361 former is in the same format as the data from
21362 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21363 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21366 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21370 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21372 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21373 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21374 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21375 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21376 should return the (altered) group info.
21378 There should be no result data from this function.
21381 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21383 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21384 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21385 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21386 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21387 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21388 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21389 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21390 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21392 There should be no result data from this function.
21395 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21397 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21398 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21399 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21400 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21401 propagate the mark information to the server.
21403 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21406 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21409 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
21410 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21411 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21412 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21413 mentioned) marks. MARK is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21414 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21415 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21416 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21417 not limit itself to these.
21419 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21420 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21421 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21422 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21424 An example action list:
21427 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21428 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21429 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21432 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21433 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21435 There should be no result data from this function.
21437 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21439 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21440 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21441 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21442 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21443 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21445 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21446 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21447 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21450 There should be no result data from this function.
21453 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21455 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21456 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21457 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21458 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21459 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21460 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21461 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21463 There should be no result data from this function.
21466 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21468 The result data from this function should be a description of
21472 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21474 description = <text>
21477 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21479 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21480 groups available on the server.
21483 description-buffer = *description-line
21487 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21489 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21490 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21491 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21494 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21496 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21498 There should be no return data.
21501 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21503 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21504 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21505 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21506 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21507 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21510 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21513 There should be no result data returned.
21516 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21519 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21520 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21522 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21523 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21524 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21525 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21526 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21527 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21529 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21530 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21533 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21534 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21536 There should be no data returned.
21539 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21541 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21542 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21543 this function in short order.
21545 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21546 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21548 There should be no data returned.
21551 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21553 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21554 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21556 There should be no data returned.
21559 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21561 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21562 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21563 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21565 There should be no data returned.
21568 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21570 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21571 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21573 There should be no data returned.
21578 @node Error Messaging
21579 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21581 @findex nnheader-report
21582 @findex nnheader-get-report
21583 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21584 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21585 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21586 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21587 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21588 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21591 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21593 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21596 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21597 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21598 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21599 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21601 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21602 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21603 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21606 @node Writing New Backends
21607 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21609 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21610 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21611 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21612 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21613 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21616 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21617 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21618 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21620 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21621 package called @code{nnoo}.
21623 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21624 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21630 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21631 parameters. For instance:
21634 (nnoo-declare nndir
21638 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21639 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21642 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21643 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21644 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21646 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21647 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21648 a function in those backends.
21651 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21652 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21653 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21656 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21657 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21658 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21660 @item nnoo-define-basics
21661 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21665 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21669 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21670 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21671 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21673 @item nnoo-map-functions
21674 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21675 functions from the parent backends.
21678 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21679 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21680 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21683 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21684 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21685 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21686 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21689 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21690 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21691 haven't already been defined.
21697 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21701 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21702 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21703 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21708 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21711 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21712 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21716 (require 'nnheader)
21720 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21722 (nnoo-declare nndir
21725 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21726 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21727 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21729 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21730 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21733 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
21735 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21736 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21737 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21739 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21740 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21742 ;;; Interface functions.
21744 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21746 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21747 (setq nndir-directory
21748 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21750 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21751 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21752 (push `(nndir-current-group
21753 ,(file-name-nondirectory
21754 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21756 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21757 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21759 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21761 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21762 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21763 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21764 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21765 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21769 nnmh-status-message
21771 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21777 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21778 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21780 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21781 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21782 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21783 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21785 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21786 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21791 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21794 The abilities can be:
21798 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21800 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21802 This backend supports both mail and news.
21804 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21807 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21808 articles and groups.
21810 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21811 true for almost all backends.
21812 @item prompt-address
21813 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21814 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21815 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21819 @node Mail-like Backends
21820 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21822 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21823 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21824 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21825 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21828 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21829 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21830 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21833 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21834 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21837 This function takes four parameters.
21841 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21844 @item exit-function
21845 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21847 @item temp-directory
21848 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21851 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21852 performed for one group only.
21855 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21856 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21857 find the article number assigned to this article.
21859 The function also uses the following variables:
21860 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21861 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21862 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21863 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21867 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21868 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21872 @node Score File Syntax
21873 @subsection Score File Syntax
21875 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21876 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21877 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21879 Here's a typical score file:
21883 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21890 BNF definition of a score file:
21893 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21894 element = rule / atom
21895 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21896 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21897 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21898 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21900 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21901 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21902 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21903 date-header = "date"
21904 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21905 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21906 score = "nil" / <integer>
21907 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21908 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21909 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21910 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21911 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21912 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21913 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21914 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21915 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21916 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21917 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21918 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21919 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21920 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21921 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21922 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21923 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21924 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21925 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21926 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21927 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21928 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21929 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21930 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21931 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21932 eval = "eval" space <form>
21933 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21936 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21939 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21940 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21941 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21942 one looong line, then that's ok.
21944 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21945 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21949 @subsection Headers
21951 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21952 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21953 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21954 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21956 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21957 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21958 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21959 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21960 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21961 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21962 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21964 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21965 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21966 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21967 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21968 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21970 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21971 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21977 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21978 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21980 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21981 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21982 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21983 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21985 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21989 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21992 is transformed into
21995 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21998 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21999 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22002 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22005 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22006 is slightly tricky:
22009 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22015 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22018 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22024 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22031 and is equal to the previous range.
22033 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22034 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22035 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22039 range = simple-range / normal-range
22040 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22041 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22042 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22043 number *[ " " contents ]
22046 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22047 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22048 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22049 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22050 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22055 @subsection Group Info
22057 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22058 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22059 describes the group.
22061 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22062 second is a more complex one:
22065 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22067 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22068 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22070 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22073 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22074 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22075 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22076 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22077 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22078 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22079 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22080 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22081 this section is about.
22083 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22084 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22085 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22087 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22090 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22091 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22092 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22093 group = quote <string> quote
22094 ralevel = rank / level
22095 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22096 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22097 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22099 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22100 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22101 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22102 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22105 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22106 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22109 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22110 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22113 @item gnus-info-group
22114 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22115 @findex gnus-info-group
22116 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22117 Get/set the group name.
22119 @item gnus-info-rank
22120 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22121 @findex gnus-info-rank
22122 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22123 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22125 @item gnus-info-level
22126 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22127 @findex gnus-info-level
22128 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22129 Get/set the group level.
22131 @item gnus-info-score
22132 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22133 @findex gnus-info-score
22134 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22135 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22137 @item gnus-info-read
22138 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22139 @findex gnus-info-read
22140 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22141 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22143 @item gnus-info-marks
22144 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22145 @findex gnus-info-marks
22146 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22147 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22149 @item gnus-info-method
22150 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22151 @findex gnus-info-method
22152 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22153 Get/set the group select method.
22155 @item gnus-info-params
22156 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22157 @findex gnus-info-params
22158 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22159 Get/set the group parameters.
22162 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22163 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22165 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22166 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22167 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22168 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22171 @node Extended Interactive
22172 @subsection Extended Interactive
22173 @cindex interactive
22174 @findex gnus-interactive
22176 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22177 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22178 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22181 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22182 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22187 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22188 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22189 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22190 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22191 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22192 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22193 @code{interactive}.
22195 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22200 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22201 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22205 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22206 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22207 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22210 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22214 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22218 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22224 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22225 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22229 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22230 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22231 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22233 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22234 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22235 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22236 Gnus, that's very useful.
22238 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22239 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22240 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22241 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22242 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22243 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22244 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22245 following function:
22248 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22252 (,function ,@@args))
22256 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22257 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22258 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22261 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22262 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22263 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22265 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22266 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22267 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22270 @node Various File Formats
22271 @subsection Various File Formats
22274 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22275 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22279 @node Active File Format
22280 @subsubsection Active File Format
22282 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22283 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22286 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22289 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22290 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22291 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22292 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22293 no.general 1000 900 y
22296 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22299 active = *group-line
22300 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
22301 group = <non-white-space string>
22303 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22304 low-number = <positive integer>
22305 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22308 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22309 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22312 @node Newsgroups File Format
22313 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22315 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22316 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22317 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22320 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22321 Here's the definition:
22325 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22326 group = <non-white-space string>
22328 description = <string>
22333 @node Emacs for Heathens
22334 @section Emacs for Heathens
22336 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22337 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22338 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22339 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22340 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22341 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22342 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22346 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22347 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22352 @subsection Keystrokes
22356 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22359 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22362 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22363 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22364 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22365 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22366 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22367 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22369 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22370 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22371 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22372 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22373 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22374 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22375 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22377 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22378 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22379 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22380 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22381 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22382 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22383 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22385 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22386 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22387 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22388 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22389 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22395 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22397 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22398 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22399 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22400 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22402 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22403 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22404 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22405 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22406 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22407 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22408 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22411 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22412 write the following:
22415 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22418 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22419 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22420 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22423 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22424 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22425 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22426 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22427 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22429 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22430 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22431 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22435 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22439 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22442 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22443 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22446 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22449 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22450 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22453 @include gnus-faq.texi
22474 % LocalWords: Backend BNF mucho Backends backends detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
22475 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
22476 % LocalWords: nnmbox backend newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
22477 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
22478 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref