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335 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
340 @setchapternewpage odd
347 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
355 @top The Gnus Newsreader
359 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
360 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
361 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
364 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
365 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.7.
376 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
377 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
379 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
380 being accused of plagiarism:
382 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
383 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
384 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
385 can even read news with it!
387 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
388 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
389 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
390 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
391 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
407 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
408 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
409 * Key Index:: Key Index.
411 Other related manuals
413 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
414 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
415 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
416 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
417 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
420 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
424 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
425 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
426 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
427 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
428 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
429 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
430 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
431 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
432 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
433 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
434 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
438 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
439 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
440 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
444 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
445 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
446 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
447 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
448 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
449 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
450 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
451 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
452 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
453 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
454 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
455 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
456 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
457 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
458 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
459 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
460 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
461 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
465 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
466 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
467 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
471 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
472 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
473 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
474 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
475 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
479 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
480 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
481 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
482 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
483 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
487 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
488 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
489 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
490 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
491 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
492 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
493 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
494 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
495 * Threading:: How threads are made.
496 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
497 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
498 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
499 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
500 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
501 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
502 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
503 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
504 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
505 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
506 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
507 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
508 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
509 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
510 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
511 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
512 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
513 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
514 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
515 or reselecting the current group.
516 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
517 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
518 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
519 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
521 Summary Buffer Format
523 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
524 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
525 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
526 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
530 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
531 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
533 Reply, Followup and Post
535 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
536 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
537 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
538 * Canceling and Superseding::
542 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
543 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
544 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
545 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
546 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
547 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
551 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
552 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
554 Customizing Threading
556 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
557 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
558 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
559 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
563 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
564 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
565 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
566 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
567 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
568 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
572 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
573 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
574 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
578 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
579 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
580 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
581 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
582 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
583 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
584 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
585 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
586 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
587 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
588 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
590 Alternative Approaches
592 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
593 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
595 Various Summary Stuff
597 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
598 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
599 * Summary Generation Commands::
600 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
604 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
605 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
606 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
607 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
608 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
612 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
613 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
614 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
615 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
616 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
617 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
618 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
619 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
620 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
624 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
625 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
626 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
627 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
628 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
629 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
630 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
631 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
632 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
636 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
637 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
638 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
639 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
640 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
641 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
642 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
646 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
647 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
651 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
652 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
653 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
654 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
658 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
659 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
660 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
661 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
662 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
663 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
664 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
665 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
666 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
667 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
668 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
669 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
670 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
674 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
675 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
676 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
678 Choosing a Mail Back End
680 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
681 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
682 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
683 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
684 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
685 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
686 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
691 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
692 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
693 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
694 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
695 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
696 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
700 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
701 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
702 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
703 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
704 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
705 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
709 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
710 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
711 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
712 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
713 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
717 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
721 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
722 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
723 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
727 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
728 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
732 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
733 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
734 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
738 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
739 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
740 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
742 The Gnus Diary Library
744 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
745 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
746 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
747 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
751 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
752 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
753 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
754 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
755 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
756 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
757 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
758 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
759 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
760 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
761 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
762 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
763 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
764 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
768 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
769 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
770 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
774 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
775 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
776 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
780 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
781 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
782 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
783 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
784 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
785 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
786 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
787 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
788 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
789 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
790 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
791 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
792 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
793 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
794 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
795 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
799 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
800 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
801 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
805 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
806 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
807 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
808 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
809 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
810 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
811 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
812 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
813 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
814 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
815 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
816 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
817 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
818 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
819 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
820 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
821 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
822 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
823 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
824 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
825 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
829 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
830 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
831 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
832 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
833 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
834 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
835 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
836 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
840 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
841 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
842 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
844 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
845 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
849 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
850 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
851 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
852 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
856 * Spam Package Introduction::
857 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
858 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
859 * Spam and Ham Processors::
860 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
862 * Extending the Spam package::
863 * Spam Statistics Package::
865 Spam Statistics Package
867 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
868 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
869 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
873 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
874 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
875 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
876 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
877 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
878 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
879 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
880 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
881 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
885 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
886 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
887 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
888 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
889 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
890 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
891 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
892 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
893 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
897 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
898 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
899 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
900 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
901 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
902 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
903 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
907 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
908 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
909 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
910 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
914 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
915 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
916 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
917 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
918 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
919 * Group Info:: The group info format.
920 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
921 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
922 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
926 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
927 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
928 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
929 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
930 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
931 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
935 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
936 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
940 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
941 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
947 @chapter Starting Gnus
950 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
955 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
956 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
957 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
958 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
959 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
960 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
962 @findex gnus-other-frame
963 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
964 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
965 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
967 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
968 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
969 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
971 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
972 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
975 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
976 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
977 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
978 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
979 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
980 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
981 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
982 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
983 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
984 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
988 @node Finding the News
989 @section Finding the News
992 @vindex gnus-select-method
994 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
995 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
996 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
997 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1000 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1001 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1004 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1007 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1010 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1013 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1014 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1015 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1016 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1018 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1020 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1021 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1022 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1023 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1024 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1025 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1026 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1028 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1029 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1030 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1031 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1033 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1034 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1035 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1036 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1037 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1038 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1039 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1040 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1041 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1044 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1046 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1047 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1048 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1049 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1050 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1051 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1053 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1055 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1056 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1057 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1058 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1059 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1060 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1063 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1064 you would typically set this variable to
1067 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1070 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1071 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1072 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1073 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1076 @node The First Time
1077 @section The First Time
1078 @cindex first time usage
1080 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1081 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1083 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1084 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1085 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1086 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1089 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1090 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1091 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1093 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1094 help you with most common problems.
1096 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1097 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1101 @node The Server is Down
1102 @section The Server is Down
1103 @cindex server errors
1105 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1106 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1107 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1109 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1110 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1111 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1112 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1113 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1114 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1115 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1117 @findex gnus-no-server
1118 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1120 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1121 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1122 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1123 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1124 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1125 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1126 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1130 @section Slave Gnusae
1133 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1134 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1135 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1136 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1138 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1139 @file{.newsrc} file.
1141 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1142 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1143 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1144 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1145 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1146 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1147 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1150 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1151 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1152 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1153 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1154 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1155 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1156 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1157 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1159 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1160 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1162 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1163 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1164 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1165 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1166 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1173 @cindex subscription
1175 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1176 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1177 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1178 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1179 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1180 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1181 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1182 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1183 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1186 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1187 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1188 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1192 @node Checking New Groups
1193 @subsection Checking New Groups
1195 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1196 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1197 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1198 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1199 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1200 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1201 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1202 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1203 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1204 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1206 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1207 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1208 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1209 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1210 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1211 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1212 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1213 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1214 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1215 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1216 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1218 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1219 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1220 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1221 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1222 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1223 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1226 @node Subscription Methods
1227 @subsection Subscription Methods
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1230 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1231 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1233 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1234 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1236 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1240 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1241 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1242 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1243 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1244 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1248 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1249 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1251 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1252 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1253 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1255 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1257 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1258 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1259 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1260 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1261 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1262 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1263 up. Or something like that.
1265 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1266 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1267 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1268 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1269 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1273 Kill all new groups.
1275 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1276 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1277 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1278 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1279 topic parameter that looks like
1285 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1288 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1293 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1294 A closely related variable is
1295 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1296 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1297 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1298 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1301 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1302 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1303 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1304 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1307 @node Filtering New Groups
1308 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1310 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1311 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1312 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1315 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1318 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1319 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1320 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1321 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1322 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1323 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1324 subscribing these groups.
1325 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1326 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1328 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1329 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1330 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1331 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1332 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1333 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1334 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1335 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1337 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1338 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1339 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1340 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1341 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1342 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1343 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1344 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1345 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1346 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1349 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1350 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1353 @node Changing Servers
1354 @section Changing Servers
1355 @cindex changing servers
1357 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1358 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1359 very flaky and you want to use another.
1361 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1362 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1366 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1367 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1368 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1369 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1372 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1373 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1374 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1375 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1377 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1378 @findex gnus-change-server
1379 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1380 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1381 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1382 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1383 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1385 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1386 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1387 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1388 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1389 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1391 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1392 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1393 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1394 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1395 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1396 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1398 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1399 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1400 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1401 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1403 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1404 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1405 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1406 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1407 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1408 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1409 cache for all groups).
1413 @section Startup Files
1414 @cindex startup files
1419 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1420 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1421 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1424 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1425 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1426 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1427 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1428 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1429 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1430 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1432 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1433 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1434 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1435 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1436 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1437 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1439 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1440 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1441 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1442 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1443 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1444 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1445 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1446 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1447 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1448 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1449 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1452 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1453 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1454 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1455 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1456 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1457 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1458 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1459 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1460 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1461 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1462 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1463 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1465 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1466 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1467 @vindex version-control
1468 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1469 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1470 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1471 If you want version control for this file, set
1472 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1473 @code{version-control} variable.
1475 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1476 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1477 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1478 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1479 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1480 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1481 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1482 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1483 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1484 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1487 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1488 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1490 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1491 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1494 @vindex gnus-init-file
1495 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1496 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1497 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1498 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1499 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1500 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1501 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1502 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1503 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1504 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1505 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1506 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1507 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1512 @cindex dribble file
1515 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1516 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1517 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1518 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1519 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1522 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1523 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1526 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1527 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1528 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1530 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1531 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1532 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1533 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1534 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1535 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1537 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1538 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1539 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1542 @node The Active File
1543 @section The Active File
1545 @cindex ignored groups
1547 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1548 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1549 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1551 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1552 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1553 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1554 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1555 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1556 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1557 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1560 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1561 @c if you set it to anything else.
1563 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1565 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1566 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1567 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1569 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1570 you actually subscribe to.
1572 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1573 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1574 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1575 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1577 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1578 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1579 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1580 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1581 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1582 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1584 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1585 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1586 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1589 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1590 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1591 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1592 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1593 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1594 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1596 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1597 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1599 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1600 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1602 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1603 secondary select methods.
1606 @node Startup Variables
1607 @section Startup Variables
1611 @item gnus-load-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1613 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1614 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1615 times you start Gnus.
1617 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1618 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1619 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1621 @item gnus-startup-hook
1622 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1623 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1625 @item gnus-started-hook
1626 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1627 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1630 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1631 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1632 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1633 generating the group buffer.
1635 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1636 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1637 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1638 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1639 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1640 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1641 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1642 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1644 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1645 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1646 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1647 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1648 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1649 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1651 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1652 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1653 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1655 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1656 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1657 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1659 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1660 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1661 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1662 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1668 @chapter Group Buffer
1669 @cindex group buffer
1671 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1673 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1674 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1675 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1676 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1677 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1678 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1679 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1680 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1681 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1682 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1683 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1684 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1685 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1686 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1687 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1688 @c human rights at 9...
1691 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1692 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1693 long as Gnus is active.
1697 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1698 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1699 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1700 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1701 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1702 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1703 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1704 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1710 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1711 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1712 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1713 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1714 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1715 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1716 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1717 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1718 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1719 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1720 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1721 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1722 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1723 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1724 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1725 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1726 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1727 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1731 @node Group Buffer Format
1732 @section Group Buffer Format
1735 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1736 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1737 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1740 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1741 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1744 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1745 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1746 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1747 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1750 @node Group Line Specification
1751 @subsection Group Line Specification
1752 @cindex group buffer format
1754 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1755 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1757 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1760 25: news.announce.newusers
1761 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1766 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1767 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1768 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1769 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1771 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1772 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1773 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1774 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1775 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1776 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1778 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1780 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1781 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1782 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1783 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1784 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1786 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1787 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1788 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1790 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1795 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1798 Whether the group is subscribed.
1801 Level of subscribedness.
1804 Number of unread articles.
1807 Number of dormant articles.
1810 Number of ticked articles.
1813 Number of read articles.
1816 Number of unseen articles.
1819 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1820 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1822 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1823 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1824 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1825 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1826 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1827 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1828 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1830 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1831 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1832 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1833 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1834 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1835 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1836 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1839 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1842 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1851 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1852 comment element in the group parameters.
1855 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1856 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1857 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1861 @samp{m} if moderated.
1864 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1870 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1876 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1880 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1883 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1884 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1885 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1886 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1887 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1890 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1892 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1896 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1899 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1903 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1904 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1905 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1906 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1909 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1910 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1911 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1912 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1913 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1914 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1919 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1920 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1921 group, or a bogus native group.
1924 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1925 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1926 @cindex group mode line
1928 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1929 The mode line can be changed by setting
1930 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1931 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1935 The native news server.
1937 The native select method.
1941 @node Group Highlighting
1942 @subsection Group Highlighting
1943 @cindex highlighting
1944 @cindex group highlighting
1946 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1947 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1948 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1949 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1950 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1952 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1956 (cond (window-system
1957 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1958 (defface my-group-face-1
1959 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1960 (defface my-group-face-2
1961 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1962 "Second group face")
1963 (defface my-group-face-3
1964 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1965 (defface my-group-face-4
1966 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1967 (defface my-group-face-5
1968 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1970 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1971 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1972 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1973 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1974 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1975 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1978 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1980 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1987 The number of unread articles in the group.
1991 Whether the group is a mail group.
1993 The level of the group.
1995 The score of the group.
1997 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1999 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
2000 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
2002 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
2003 topic being inserted.
2006 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2007 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2008 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2010 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2011 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2012 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2013 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2014 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2017 @node Group Maneuvering
2018 @section Group Maneuvering
2019 @cindex group movement
2021 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2022 expected, hopefully.
2028 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2029 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2030 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2036 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2037 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2038 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2042 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2043 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2047 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2048 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2052 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2053 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2054 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2058 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2059 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2060 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2063 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2069 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2070 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2071 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2076 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2077 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2078 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2082 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2083 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2084 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2087 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2088 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2089 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2090 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2093 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2094 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2095 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2096 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2099 @node Selecting a Group
2100 @section Selecting a Group
2101 @cindex group selection
2106 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2107 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2108 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2109 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2110 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2111 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2112 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2113 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2114 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2115 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2117 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2118 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2119 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2121 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2122 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2127 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2128 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2129 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2130 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2131 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2135 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2136 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2137 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2138 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2139 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2140 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2141 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2142 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2143 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2144 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2147 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2148 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2149 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2150 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2151 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2154 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2155 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2156 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2157 doing any processing of its contents
2158 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2159 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2160 manner will have no permanent effects.
2164 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2165 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2166 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2167 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2168 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2169 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2170 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2171 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2172 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2173 most recently will be fetched.
2175 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2176 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2177 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2180 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2181 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2182 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2183 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2184 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2185 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2186 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2187 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2188 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2189 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2190 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2191 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2192 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2193 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2194 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2195 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2196 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2198 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2199 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2200 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2201 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2202 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2203 Which article this is is controlled by the
2204 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2210 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2213 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2216 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2218 @item unseen-or-unread
2219 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2220 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2224 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2228 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2229 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2231 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2232 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2233 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2234 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2238 @node Subscription Commands
2239 @section Subscription Commands
2240 @cindex subscription
2248 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2249 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2250 Toggle subscription to the current group
2251 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2257 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2258 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2259 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2260 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2266 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2267 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2268 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2274 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2275 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2278 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2279 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2280 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2281 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2282 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2288 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2289 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2293 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2294 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2297 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2298 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2299 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2300 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2301 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2302 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2303 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2304 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2305 @file{.newsrc} file.
2309 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2319 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2320 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2321 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2322 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2323 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2324 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2329 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2330 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2331 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2335 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2336 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2337 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2339 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2340 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2341 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2342 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2343 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2344 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2351 @section Group Levels
2355 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2356 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2357 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2358 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2359 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2361 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2367 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2368 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2369 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2370 prompted for a level.
2373 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2374 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2375 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2376 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2377 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2378 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2379 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2380 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2381 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2382 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2383 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2384 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2385 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2386 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2387 reasons of efficiency.
2389 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2390 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2392 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2393 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2394 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2395 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2396 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2397 groups are hidden, in a way.
2399 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2400 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2401 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2402 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2403 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2404 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2406 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2407 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2408 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2409 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2410 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2411 list of killed groups.)
2413 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2414 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2415 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2417 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2418 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2419 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2420 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2421 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2422 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2423 relevant valid ranges.
2425 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2426 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2427 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2428 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2429 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2430 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2433 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2434 one with the best level.
2436 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2437 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2438 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2441 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2442 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2443 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2444 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2447 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2448 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2449 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2450 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2452 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2453 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2454 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2455 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2456 to 5. The default is 6.
2460 @section Group Score
2465 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2466 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2467 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2470 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2471 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2472 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2473 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2474 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2475 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2476 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2477 least significant part.))
2479 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2480 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2481 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2482 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2483 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2484 action after each summary exit, you can add
2485 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2486 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2487 slow things down somewhat.
2490 @node Marking Groups
2491 @section Marking Groups
2492 @cindex marking groups
2494 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2495 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2496 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2497 bidding on those groups.
2499 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2500 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2501 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2509 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2510 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2516 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2517 Remove the mark from the current group
2518 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2522 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2523 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2527 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2528 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2532 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2533 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2537 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2538 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2539 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2542 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2544 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2545 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2546 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2547 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2548 the command to be executed.
2551 @node Foreign Groups
2552 @section Foreign Groups
2553 @cindex foreign groups
2555 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2556 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2557 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2558 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2561 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2562 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2563 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2569 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2570 @cindex making groups
2571 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2572 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2573 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2577 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2578 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2579 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2583 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2584 @cindex renaming groups
2585 Rename the current group to something else
2586 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2587 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2593 @findex gnus-group-customize
2594 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2598 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2599 @cindex renaming groups
2600 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2601 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2605 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2606 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2607 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2611 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2612 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2613 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2617 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2619 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2620 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2625 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2626 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2630 @cindex (ding) archive
2631 @cindex archive group
2632 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2633 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2634 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2635 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2636 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2637 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2638 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2642 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2644 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2645 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2646 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2647 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2651 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2653 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2654 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2655 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2659 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2660 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2662 Make a group based on some file or other
2663 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2664 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2665 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2666 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2667 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2668 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2669 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2670 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2671 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2675 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2676 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2677 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2678 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2682 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2686 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2687 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2688 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2689 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2690 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2691 @xref{Web Searches}.
2693 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2694 to a particular group by using a match string like
2695 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2699 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2700 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2701 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2705 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2706 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2707 This function will delete the current group
2708 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2709 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2710 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2711 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2712 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2716 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2717 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2718 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2722 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2723 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2724 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2727 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2730 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2731 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2732 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2733 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2734 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2735 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2739 @node Group Parameters
2740 @section Group Parameters
2741 @cindex group parameters
2743 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2745 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2746 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2747 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2748 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2749 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2750 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2751 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2753 Here's an example group parameter list:
2756 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2760 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2761 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2762 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2763 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2765 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2766 is an alist of regexps and values.
2768 The following group parameters can be used:
2773 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2776 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2779 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2780 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2781 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2782 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2783 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2785 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2786 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2787 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2788 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2789 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2790 list address instead.
2792 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2796 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2799 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2802 It is totally ignored
2803 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2804 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2806 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2807 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2808 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2809 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2810 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2812 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2813 @cindex mail list groups
2814 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2815 entering summary buffer.
2817 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2822 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2823 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2824 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2825 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2826 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2827 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2828 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2829 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2832 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2833 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2836 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2837 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2841 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2842 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2843 of whether it has any unread articles.
2845 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2846 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2848 @item broken-reply-to
2849 @cindex broken-reply-to
2850 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2851 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2852 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2853 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2854 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2855 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2859 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2860 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2864 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2865 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2866 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2871 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2872 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2873 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2874 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2875 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2876 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2877 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2879 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2880 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2881 doesn't accept articles.
2885 @cindex expiring mail
2886 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2887 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2888 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2890 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2893 @cindex total-expire
2894 @cindex expiring mail
2895 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2896 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2897 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2898 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2901 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2905 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2906 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2907 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2908 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2909 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2910 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2911 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2914 @cindex expiry-target
2915 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2916 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2919 @cindex score file group parameter
2920 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2921 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2922 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2925 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2926 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2927 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2928 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2931 @cindex admin-address
2932 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2933 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2934 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2935 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2939 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2940 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2944 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2947 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2948 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2951 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2955 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2957 Here are some examples:
2961 Display only unread articles.
2964 Display everything except expirable articles.
2966 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2967 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2971 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2972 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2973 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2974 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2975 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2979 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2980 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2981 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2985 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2986 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2987 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2991 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2992 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2993 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2995 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2997 @item ignored-charsets
2998 @cindex ignored-charset
2999 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3000 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3001 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3003 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3006 @cindex posting-style
3007 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3008 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3009 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3010 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3011 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3013 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3014 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3015 like this in the group parameters:
3020 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3021 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3024 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3025 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3026 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3027 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3028 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3029 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3035 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3036 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3040 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3041 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3042 mail source for this group.
3046 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3047 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3048 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3049 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3050 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3054 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3055 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3056 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3057 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3059 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3060 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3061 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3062 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3065 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3066 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3070 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3071 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3072 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3073 like the following is generated:
3076 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3077 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3081 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3082 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3084 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3085 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3087 @item (agent parameters)
3088 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3089 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3090 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3091 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3092 minimize the configuration effort.
3094 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3095 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3096 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3097 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3098 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3099 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3100 @code{eval}ed there.
3102 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3103 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3104 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3105 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3106 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3107 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3108 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3109 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3112 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3115 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3116 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3117 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3120 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3123 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3124 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3125 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3126 into the group parameters for the group.
3128 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3129 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3130 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3131 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3134 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3135 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3136 following is added to a group parameter
3139 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3140 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3143 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3148 @vindex gnus-parameters
3149 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3150 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3151 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3155 (setq gnus-parameters
3157 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3158 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3159 (gnus-summary-line-format
3160 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3164 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3168 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3172 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3175 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3176 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3178 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3179 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3180 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3181 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3182 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3183 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3184 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3185 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3186 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3187 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3188 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3189 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3191 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3192 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3193 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3194 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3195 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3196 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3197 weekly news RSS feed
3198 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3204 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3205 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3206 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3207 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3208 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3210 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3211 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3212 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3213 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3214 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3215 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3219 @node Listing Groups
3220 @section Listing Groups
3221 @cindex group listing
3223 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3231 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3232 List all groups that have unread articles
3233 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3234 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3235 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3236 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3243 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3244 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3245 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3246 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3247 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3248 unsubscribed groups).
3252 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3253 List all unread groups on a specific level
3254 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3255 with no unread articles.
3259 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3260 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3261 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3262 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3267 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3268 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3272 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3273 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3274 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3278 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3279 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3283 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3284 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3285 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3286 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3287 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3288 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3289 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3290 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3294 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3295 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3296 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3300 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3301 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3302 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3306 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3307 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3311 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3312 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3316 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3317 List groups limited within the current selection
3318 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3322 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3323 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3327 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3328 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3332 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3333 @cindex visible group parameter
3334 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3335 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3336 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3337 get the same effect.
3339 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3340 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3341 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3342 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3343 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3346 @node Sorting Groups
3347 @section Sorting Groups
3348 @cindex sorting groups
3350 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3351 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3352 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3353 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3354 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3355 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3360 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3361 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3362 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3364 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3365 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3366 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3368 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3369 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3370 Sort by group level.
3372 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3373 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3374 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3376 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3377 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3378 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3379 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3381 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3382 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3383 Sort by number of unread articles.
3385 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3386 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3387 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3389 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3390 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3391 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3396 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3397 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3401 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3402 some sorting criteria:
3406 @kindex G S a (Group)
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3408 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3409 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3412 @kindex G S u (Group)
3413 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3414 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3415 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3418 @kindex G S l (Group)
3419 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3420 Sort the group buffer by group level
3421 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3424 @kindex G S v (Group)
3425 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3426 Sort the group buffer by group score
3427 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3430 @kindex G S r (Group)
3431 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3432 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3433 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3436 @kindex G S m (Group)
3437 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3438 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3439 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3442 @kindex G S n (Group)
3443 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3444 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3445 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3449 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3450 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3452 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3453 commands will sort in reverse order.
3455 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3459 @kindex G P a (Group)
3460 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3461 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3462 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3465 @kindex G P u (Group)
3466 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3467 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3468 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3471 @kindex G P l (Group)
3472 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3473 Sort the groups by group level
3474 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3477 @kindex G P v (Group)
3478 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3479 Sort the groups by group score
3480 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3483 @kindex G P r (Group)
3484 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3485 Sort the groups by group rank
3486 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3489 @kindex G P m (Group)
3490 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3491 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3492 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3495 @kindex G P n (Group)
3496 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3497 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3498 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3501 @kindex G P s (Group)
3502 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3503 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3507 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3511 @node Group Maintenance
3512 @section Group Maintenance
3513 @cindex bogus groups
3518 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3519 Find bogus groups and delete them
3520 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3524 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3525 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3526 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3527 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3528 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3532 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3533 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3534 @cindex expiring mail
3535 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3536 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3537 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3538 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3541 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3542 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3543 @cindex expiring mail
3544 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3545 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3550 @node Browse Foreign Server
3551 @section Browse Foreign Server
3552 @cindex foreign servers
3553 @cindex browsing servers
3558 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3559 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3560 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3561 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3564 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3565 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3566 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3567 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3569 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3574 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3575 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3579 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3580 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3583 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3584 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3585 Enter the current group and display the first article
3586 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3589 @kindex RET (Browse)
3590 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3591 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3595 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3596 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3597 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3603 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3604 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3608 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3609 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3613 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3614 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3615 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3620 @section Exiting Gnus
3621 @cindex exiting Gnus
3623 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3628 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3629 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3630 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3631 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3635 @findex gnus-group-exit
3636 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3637 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3641 @findex gnus-group-quit
3642 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3643 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3646 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3647 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3648 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3649 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3650 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3651 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3657 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3658 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3659 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3665 @section Group Topics
3668 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3669 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3670 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3671 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3672 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3673 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3677 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3678 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3689 2: alt.religion.emacs
3692 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3694 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3695 13: comp.sources.unix
3698 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3700 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3701 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3702 is a toggling command.)
3704 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3705 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3706 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3707 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3710 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3711 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3712 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3715 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3719 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3720 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3721 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3722 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3723 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3727 @node Topic Commands
3728 @subsection Topic Commands
3729 @cindex topic commands
3731 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3732 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3733 definitions slightly.
3735 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3736 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3737 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3738 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3739 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3740 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3742 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3749 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3750 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3755 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3757 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3758 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3759 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3760 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3763 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3764 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3765 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3766 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3770 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3771 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3772 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3773 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3779 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3780 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3781 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3785 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3786 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3787 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3790 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3791 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3792 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3793 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3794 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3796 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3797 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3801 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3802 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3809 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3811 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3812 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3813 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3814 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3815 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3816 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3820 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3826 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3827 Move the current group to some other topic
3828 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3829 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3833 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3834 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3838 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3839 Copy the current group to some other topic
3840 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3841 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3845 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3846 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3847 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3851 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3852 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3853 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3857 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3858 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3859 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3860 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3861 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3862 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3863 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3866 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3867 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3871 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3872 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3873 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3877 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3878 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3879 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3883 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3884 Toggle hiding empty topics
3885 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3889 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3890 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3891 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3892 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3895 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3896 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3897 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3898 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3899 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3902 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3903 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3904 @cindex expiring mail
3905 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3906 expiry process (if any)
3907 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3911 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3912 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3915 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3916 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3917 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3921 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3922 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3923 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3926 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3927 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3928 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3931 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3932 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3933 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3937 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3938 @cindex group parameters
3939 @cindex topic parameters
3941 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3942 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3947 @node Topic Variables
3948 @subsection Topic Variables
3949 @cindex topic variables
3951 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3952 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3954 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3955 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3956 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3969 Number of groups in the topic.
3971 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3973 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3976 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3977 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3978 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3981 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3982 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3984 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3985 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3986 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3990 @subsection Topic Sorting
3991 @cindex topic sorting
3993 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3999 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4000 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4001 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4002 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4005 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4006 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4007 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4008 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4011 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4012 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4013 Sort the current topic by group level
4014 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4017 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4018 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4019 Sort the current topic by group score
4020 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4023 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4024 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4025 Sort the current topic by group rank
4026 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4029 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4030 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4031 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4032 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4035 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4036 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4037 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4038 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4041 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4042 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4043 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4044 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4045 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4049 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4050 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4054 @node Topic Topology
4055 @subsection Topic Topology
4056 @cindex topic topology
4059 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4066 2: alt.religion.emacs
4069 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4071 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4072 13: comp.sources.unix
4076 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4077 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4078 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4083 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4084 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4088 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4089 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4090 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4091 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4092 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4093 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4095 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4096 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4097 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4100 @node Topic Parameters
4101 @subsection Topic Parameters
4102 @cindex topic parameters
4104 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4105 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4106 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4107 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4108 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4110 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4115 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4116 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4117 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4120 @item subscribe-level
4121 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4122 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4123 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4127 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4128 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4129 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4130 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4137 2: alt.religion.emacs
4141 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4143 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4144 13: comp.sources.unix
4149 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4150 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4151 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4152 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4153 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4154 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4156 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4157 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4158 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4159 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4160 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4162 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4163 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4164 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4165 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4166 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4167 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4168 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4169 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4172 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4173 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4174 @cindex non-ascii group names
4176 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4177 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4178 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4179 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4180 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4181 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4182 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4185 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4186 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4187 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4188 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4189 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4190 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4191 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4192 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4195 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4196 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4197 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4198 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4199 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4202 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4203 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4206 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4207 ones specified for the same groups with the
4208 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4210 A select method can be very long, like:
4214 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4215 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4216 (nntp-open-connection-function
4217 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4218 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4219 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4220 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4221 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4224 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4225 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4228 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4229 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4230 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4231 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4232 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4233 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4236 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4237 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4241 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4242 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4245 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4246 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4247 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4248 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4249 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4250 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4252 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4253 names. @emph{XEmacs users must set this}. Emacs users necessarily need
4257 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4258 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}
4259 (which is the default). The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back
4260 end, the @acronym{NNTP} marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent,
4261 and the cache use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and
4262 directories. This variable overrides the value of
4263 @code{file-name-coding-system} which specifies the coding system used
4264 when encoding and decoding those file names and directory names.
4266 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4267 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4268 file names. Therefore, @emph{you, XEmacs users, have to set it} to the
4269 coding system that is suitable to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII}
4270 group names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4271 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4272 is @code{nil}. Normally the value of
4273 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized according to the
4274 locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable to
4275 encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4277 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4278 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4279 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4280 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4282 If you want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese but
4283 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} is initialized by default to
4284 @code{iso-latin-1} for example, that is the most typical case where you
4285 have to set @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} even if you are an
4286 Emacs user. The @code{utf-8} coding system is a good candidate for it.
4287 Otherwise, you may change the locale in your system so that
4288 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} may be initialized to an
4289 appropriate value, instead of specifying this variable.
4292 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4293 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4294 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4295 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4298 @node Misc Group Stuff
4299 @section Misc Group Stuff
4302 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4303 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4304 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4305 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4306 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4313 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
4314 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4315 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4318 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
4321 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
4324 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
4325 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
4329 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4330 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4331 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4335 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4336 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4337 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4338 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4339 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4340 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4341 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4345 @findex gnus-group-mail
4346 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4347 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4348 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4349 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4353 @findex gnus-group-news
4354 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4355 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4356 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4358 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4359 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4360 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4361 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4362 for this to work though.
4366 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
4368 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
4369 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
4370 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
4375 Variables for the group buffer:
4379 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4380 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4381 is called after the group buffer has been
4384 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4385 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4386 is called after the group buffer is
4387 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4390 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4391 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4392 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4393 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4395 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4396 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4397 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4398 whether they are empty or not.
4402 @node Scanning New Messages
4403 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4404 @cindex new messages
4405 @cindex scanning new news
4411 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4412 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4413 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4414 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4415 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4416 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4421 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4422 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4423 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4424 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4425 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4426 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4427 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4429 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4430 @cindex activating groups
4432 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4433 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4438 @findex gnus-group-restart
4439 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4440 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4441 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4445 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4446 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4448 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4449 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4453 @node Group Information
4454 @subsection Group Information
4455 @cindex group information
4456 @cindex information on groups
4463 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4464 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4467 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4468 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4469 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4470 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4471 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4472 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4473 used for fetching the file.
4475 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4476 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4480 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4481 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4483 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4484 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4487 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4488 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4489 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4493 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4494 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4495 @cindex control message
4496 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4497 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4498 group if given a prefix argument.
4500 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4501 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4502 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4503 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4505 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4506 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4507 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4511 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4513 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4514 @cindex describing groups
4515 @cindex group description
4516 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4517 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4518 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4522 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4523 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4524 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4531 @findex gnus-version
4532 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4536 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4537 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4540 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4543 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4544 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4548 @node Group Timestamp
4549 @subsection Group Timestamp
4551 @cindex group timestamps
4553 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4554 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4555 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4558 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4561 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4563 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4564 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4567 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4568 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4571 This will result in lines looking like:
4574 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4575 0: custom 19961002T012713
4578 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4579 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4583 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4584 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4587 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4588 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4592 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4593 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4594 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4595 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4597 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4603 @subsection File Commands
4604 @cindex file commands
4610 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4611 @vindex gnus-init-file
4612 @cindex reading init file
4613 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4614 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4618 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4619 @cindex saving .newsrc
4620 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4621 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4622 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4625 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4626 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4627 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4632 @node Sieve Commands
4633 @subsection Sieve Commands
4634 @cindex group sieve commands
4636 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4637 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4638 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4639 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4640 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4642 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4643 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4644 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4645 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4646 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4647 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4648 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4649 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4650 regenerate the Sieve script.
4652 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4653 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4654 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4655 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4656 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4657 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4658 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4659 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4660 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4661 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4664 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4665 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4670 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4676 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4677 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4678 @cindex generating sieve script
4679 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4680 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4684 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4685 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4686 @cindex updating sieve script
4687 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4688 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4689 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4694 @node Summary Buffer
4695 @chapter Summary Buffer
4696 @cindex summary buffer
4698 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4699 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4701 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4702 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4704 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4706 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
4707 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
4711 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
4712 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4713 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4715 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
4719 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4720 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4721 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4722 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4723 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4724 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4725 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4726 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4727 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4728 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4729 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4730 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4731 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4732 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
4733 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4734 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4735 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4736 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4737 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4738 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4739 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4740 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4741 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4742 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4743 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4744 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4745 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4746 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4747 or reselecting the current group.
4748 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4749 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4750 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4751 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4755 @node Summary Buffer Format
4756 @section Summary Buffer Format
4757 @cindex summary buffer format
4761 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4762 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4763 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4769 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4770 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4771 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4772 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4775 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4776 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4777 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4778 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4779 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4780 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4781 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4782 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4783 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4784 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4785 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4788 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4789 'mail-extract-address-components)
4792 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4793 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4794 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4795 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4798 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4799 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4801 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4802 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4803 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4804 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4805 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4807 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4808 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4809 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4810 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4811 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4812 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4814 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4816 The following format specification characters and extended format
4817 specification(s) are understood:
4823 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4824 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4826 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4827 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4828 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4830 Full @code{From} header.
4832 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4834 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4837 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4838 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4839 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4840 may be more thorough.
4842 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4845 Number of lines in the article.
4847 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4848 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4850 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4851 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4853 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4855 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4856 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4869 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4870 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4871 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4872 line-drawing glyphs.
4874 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4875 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4876 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4877 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4879 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4880 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4881 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4882 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4884 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4885 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4886 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4887 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4889 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4890 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4891 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4893 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4894 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4895 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4897 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4898 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4899 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4901 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4902 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4903 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4908 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4909 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4911 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4912 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4914 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4915 for adopted articles.
4917 One space for each thread level.
4919 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4921 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4924 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4925 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4926 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4929 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4931 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4932 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4933 default level. If the difference between
4934 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4935 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4943 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4945 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4951 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4952 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4954 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4955 article has any children.
4961 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
4963 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4964 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4966 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4967 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4968 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4969 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4970 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4971 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4974 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4975 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4976 There can only be one such area.
4978 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4979 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4980 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4981 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4982 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4983 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4985 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4986 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4988 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4991 @node To From Newsgroups
4992 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4996 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4997 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4998 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4999 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5000 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5004 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5005 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5006 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5010 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5011 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5014 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5015 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5018 @findex gnus-extra-header
5019 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5020 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5021 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5024 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5028 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5029 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5030 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5031 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5032 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5033 headers are used instead.
5035 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5036 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5037 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5038 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5039 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5040 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5044 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5045 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5046 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5047 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5048 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5049 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5052 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5053 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5054 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5055 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5057 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5061 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5063 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5064 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5065 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5066 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5070 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5073 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5074 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5077 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5078 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5079 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5085 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5086 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5089 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5090 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5092 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5093 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5094 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5095 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5097 Here are the elements you can play with:
5103 Unprefixed group name.
5105 Current article number.
5107 Current article score.
5111 Number of unread articles in this group.
5113 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5116 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5117 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5118 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5119 and no unselected ones.
5121 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5122 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5124 Subject of the current article.
5126 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5128 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5130 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5132 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5134 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5136 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5140 @node Summary Highlighting
5141 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5145 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5146 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5147 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5148 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5149 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5151 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5152 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5153 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5154 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5156 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5157 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5158 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5159 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5161 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5162 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5163 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5164 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5165 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5166 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5169 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5170 ((> score default) . bold))
5172 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5173 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5177 @node Summary Maneuvering
5178 @section Summary Maneuvering
5179 @cindex summary movement
5181 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5182 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5184 None of these commands select articles.
5189 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5190 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5192 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5193 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5197 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5198 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5200 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5201 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5204 @kindex G g (Summary)
5205 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5206 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5207 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5210 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5211 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5212 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5213 to the group buffer.
5215 Variables related to summary movement:
5219 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5220 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5221 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5222 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5223 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5224 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5225 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5226 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5227 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5228 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5229 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5230 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5231 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5232 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5234 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5235 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5236 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5237 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5238 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5239 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5240 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5242 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5244 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5245 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5246 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5247 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5248 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5250 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5251 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5252 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5253 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5254 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5255 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5256 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5257 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5260 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5261 the given number of lines from the top.
5266 @node Choosing Articles
5267 @section Choosing Articles
5268 @cindex selecting articles
5271 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5272 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5276 @node Choosing Commands
5277 @subsection Choosing Commands
5279 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5280 and they all select and display an article.
5282 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5283 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5287 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5288 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5289 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5290 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5292 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5293 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5294 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5299 @kindex G n (Summary)
5300 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5301 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5302 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5307 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5308 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5309 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5314 @kindex G N (Summary)
5315 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5316 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5321 @kindex G P (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5323 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5326 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5327 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5328 Go to the next article with the same subject
5329 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5332 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5333 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5334 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5335 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5339 @kindex G f (Summary)
5341 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5342 Go to the first unread article
5343 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5347 @kindex G b (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5350 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5351 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5352 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5357 @kindex G l (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5359 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5362 @kindex G o (Summary)
5363 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5365 @cindex article history
5366 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5367 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5368 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5369 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5370 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5371 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5376 @kindex G j (Summary)
5377 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5378 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5379 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5384 @node Choosing Variables
5385 @subsection Choosing Variables
5387 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5390 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5391 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5392 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5393 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5394 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5395 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5397 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5398 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5399 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
5400 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
5401 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
5404 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5405 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5406 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5407 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5408 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5409 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5410 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5411 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5412 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
5413 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5414 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5415 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5416 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5417 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5422 @node Paging the Article
5423 @section Scrolling the Article
5424 @cindex article scrolling
5429 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5430 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5431 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5432 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5433 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5435 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5436 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5437 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5438 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5439 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5440 what is considered uninteresting with
5441 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5442 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5445 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5446 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5447 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5450 @kindex RET (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5452 Scroll the current article one line forward
5453 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5456 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5458 Scroll the current article one line backward
5459 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5463 @kindex A g (Summary)
5465 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5466 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5467 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5468 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5469 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5470 the way it came from the server.
5472 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5473 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5474 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5477 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5482 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5487 @kindex A < (Summary)
5488 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5489 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5490 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5495 @kindex A > (Summary)
5496 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5497 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5501 @kindex A s (Summary)
5503 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5504 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5505 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5509 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5510 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5515 @node Reply Followup and Post
5516 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5519 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5520 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5521 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5522 * Canceling and Superseding::
5526 @node Summary Mail Commands
5527 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5529 @cindex composing mail
5531 Commands for composing a mail message:
5537 @kindex S r (Summary)
5539 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5540 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5541 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5542 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5543 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5548 @kindex S R (Summary)
5549 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5550 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5551 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5552 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5553 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5556 @kindex S w (Summary)
5557 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5558 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5559 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5560 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5561 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5562 present, that's used instead.
5565 @kindex S W (Summary)
5566 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5567 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5568 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5569 the process/prefix convention.
5572 @kindex S v (Summary)
5573 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5574 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5575 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5576 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5577 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5578 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5581 @kindex S V (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5583 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5584 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5585 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5588 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5589 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5590 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5591 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5592 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5593 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5594 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5595 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5598 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5599 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5600 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5601 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5602 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5606 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5607 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5608 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5609 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5610 Forward the current article to some other person
5611 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5612 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5613 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5614 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5615 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5616 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5617 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5618 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5619 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5625 @kindex S m (Summary)
5626 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5627 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5628 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5629 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5630 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5635 @kindex S i (Summary)
5636 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5637 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5638 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5639 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5641 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5642 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5643 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5644 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5645 for this to work though.
5648 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5650 @cindex bouncing mail
5651 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5652 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5653 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5654 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5655 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5656 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5657 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5658 very well fail, though.
5661 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5662 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5663 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5664 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5665 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5666 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5667 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5668 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5669 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5670 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5672 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5673 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5674 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5675 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5676 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5678 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5679 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5682 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5683 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5685 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5686 if it were a new message before resending.
5689 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5690 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5691 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5692 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5693 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5696 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5697 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5698 @cindex crossposting
5699 @cindex excessive crossposting
5700 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5701 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5703 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5704 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5705 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5706 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5707 command understands the process/prefix convention
5708 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5712 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5713 Manual}, for more information.
5716 @node Summary Post Commands
5717 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5719 @cindex composing news
5721 Commands for posting a news article:
5727 @kindex S p (Summary)
5728 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5729 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5730 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5731 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5732 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5737 @kindex S f (Summary)
5738 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5739 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5740 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5744 @kindex S F (Summary)
5746 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5747 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5748 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5749 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5750 process/prefix convention.
5753 @kindex S n (Summary)
5754 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5755 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5756 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5759 @kindex S N (Summary)
5760 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5761 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5762 message through mail and include the original message
5763 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5764 the process/prefix convention.
5767 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5769 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5770 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5771 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5772 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5773 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5774 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5775 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5776 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5777 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5778 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5779 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5782 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5785 @cindex making digests
5786 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5787 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5788 process/prefix convention.
5791 @kindex S u (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5793 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5794 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5795 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5798 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5799 Manual}, for more information.
5802 @node Summary Message Commands
5803 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5807 @kindex S y (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5809 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5810 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5811 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5812 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5817 @node Canceling and Superseding
5818 @subsection Canceling Articles
5819 @cindex canceling articles
5820 @cindex superseding articles
5822 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5823 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5825 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5827 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5829 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5830 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5831 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5832 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5833 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5834 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5836 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5837 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5840 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5841 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5842 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5844 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5845 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5846 message, Message Manual}).
5848 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5849 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5850 your original article.
5852 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5854 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5855 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5856 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5859 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5860 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5861 have posted almost the same article twice.
5863 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5864 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5865 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5866 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5867 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5868 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5869 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5870 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5871 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5872 canceled/superseded.
5874 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5876 @node Delayed Articles
5877 @section Delayed Articles
5878 @cindex delayed sending
5879 @cindex send delayed
5881 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5882 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5883 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5884 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5887 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5890 @findex gnus-delay-article
5891 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5892 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5893 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5894 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5898 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5899 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5900 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5901 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5904 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5905 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5906 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5909 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5910 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5911 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5912 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5913 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5914 that means a time tomorrow.
5917 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5918 couple of variables:
5921 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5922 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5923 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5924 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5926 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5927 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5928 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5929 formats described above.
5931 @item gnus-delay-group
5932 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5933 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5934 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5935 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5937 @item gnus-delay-header
5938 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5939 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5940 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5941 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5944 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5945 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5946 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5947 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5948 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5950 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5951 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5952 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5953 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5954 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5955 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5956 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5959 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5960 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5961 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5962 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5963 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5964 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5965 argument is ignored.
5967 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5968 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5969 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5973 @node Marking Articles
5974 @section Marking Articles
5975 @cindex article marking
5976 @cindex article ticking
5979 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5981 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5982 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5983 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5985 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5988 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5992 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5993 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5994 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5995 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5996 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5997 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6001 @node Unread Articles
6002 @subsection Unread Articles
6004 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6009 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6010 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6012 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6013 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6014 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6015 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6016 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6017 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6018 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6021 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6022 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6024 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6025 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6026 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6027 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6031 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6032 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6034 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6039 @subsection Read Articles
6040 @cindex expirable mark
6042 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6047 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6048 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6049 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6052 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6053 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6056 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6057 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6058 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6061 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6062 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6065 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6066 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6069 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6070 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6073 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6074 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6077 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6078 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6081 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
6082 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
6085 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6086 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6090 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6091 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6092 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6096 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6097 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6099 One more special mark, though:
6103 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6104 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6106 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6107 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6108 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6109 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6115 @subsection Other Marks
6116 @cindex process mark
6119 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6125 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6126 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6127 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6128 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6129 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6132 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6133 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6134 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6135 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6138 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6139 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6140 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6143 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6144 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6145 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6148 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6149 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6150 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6151 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6154 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6155 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6156 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6157 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6158 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6159 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6162 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6163 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6164 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6165 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6168 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6169 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6170 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6171 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6172 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6176 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6177 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6178 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6179 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6180 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6181 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6184 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6185 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6186 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6187 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6188 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6189 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6193 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6194 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6195 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6196 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6197 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6200 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6201 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6202 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6203 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6204 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6205 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6209 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6210 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6211 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6213 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6214 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6215 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6219 @subsection Setting Marks
6220 @cindex setting marks
6222 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6227 @kindex M c (Summary)
6228 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6230 @cindex mark as unread
6231 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6232 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6238 @kindex M t (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6240 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6241 @xref{Article Caching}.
6246 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6248 Mark the current article as dormant
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6253 @kindex M d (Summary)
6255 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6256 Mark the current article as read
6257 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6261 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6262 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6263 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6268 @kindex M k (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6270 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6271 and then select the next unread article
6272 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6276 @kindex M K (Summary)
6277 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6278 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6279 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6283 @kindex M C (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6285 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6286 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6289 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6291 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6292 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6295 @kindex M H (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6297 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6298 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6301 @kindex M h (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6303 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6304 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6307 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6309 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6310 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6313 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6315 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6316 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6320 @kindex M e (Summary)
6322 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6323 Mark the current article as expirable
6324 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6327 @kindex M b (Summary)
6328 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6329 Set a bookmark in the current article
6330 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6333 @kindex M B (Summary)
6334 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6335 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6336 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6339 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6341 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6342 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6345 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6347 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6348 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6351 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6352 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6353 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6354 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6355 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6358 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6359 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6360 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6361 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6362 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6363 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6364 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6365 The default is @code{t}.
6368 @node Generic Marking Commands
6369 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6371 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6372 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6373 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6374 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6375 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6378 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6379 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6382 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6383 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6384 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6385 to list in this manual.
6387 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6388 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6389 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6390 article, you could say something like:
6394 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6395 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6396 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6404 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6405 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6409 @node Setting Process Marks
6410 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6411 @cindex setting process marks
6413 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6414 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6415 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6416 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6417 articles into the cache. For more information,
6418 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6425 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6426 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6427 Mark the current article with the process mark
6428 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6429 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6433 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6434 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6435 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6439 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6440 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6441 Remove the process mark from all articles
6442 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6445 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6447 Invert the list of process marked articles
6448 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6451 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6452 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6453 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6454 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6457 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6459 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6460 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6463 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6464 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6465 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6468 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6470 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6473 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6475 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6476 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6479 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6480 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6481 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6482 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6485 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6486 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6487 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6488 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6491 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6492 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6493 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6496 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6498 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6499 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6502 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6503 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6504 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6507 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6508 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6509 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6510 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6513 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6514 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6515 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6516 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6519 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6520 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6521 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6522 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6525 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6526 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6527 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6528 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6532 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6533 set process marks based on article body contents.
6540 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6541 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6542 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6545 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6546 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6547 additional articles.
6553 @kindex / / (Summary)
6554 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6555 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6556 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6560 @kindex / a (Summary)
6561 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6562 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6563 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6567 @kindex / R (Summary)
6568 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6569 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6570 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6574 @kindex / A (Summary)
6575 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
6576 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
6577 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
6578 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
6581 @kindex / S (Summary)
6582 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
6583 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
6584 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
6585 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
6588 @kindex / x (Summary)
6589 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6590 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6591 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6592 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6597 @kindex / u (Summary)
6599 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6600 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6601 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6602 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6603 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6606 @kindex / m (Summary)
6607 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6608 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6609 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6612 @kindex / t (Summary)
6613 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6614 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6615 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6616 articles younger than that number of days.
6619 @kindex / n (Summary)
6620 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6621 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
6622 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
6623 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
6626 @kindex / w (Summary)
6627 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6628 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6629 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6633 @kindex / . (Summary)
6634 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6635 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6636 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6639 @kindex / v (Summary)
6640 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6641 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6642 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6645 @kindex / p (Summary)
6646 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6647 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6648 group parameter predicate
6649 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6650 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6653 @kindex / r (Summary)
6654 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6655 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6656 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6661 @kindex M S (Summary)
6662 @kindex / E (Summary)
6663 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6664 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6665 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6668 @kindex / D (Summary)
6669 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6670 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6671 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6674 @kindex / * (Summary)
6675 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6676 Include all cached articles in the limit
6677 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6680 @kindex / d (Summary)
6681 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6682 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6683 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6686 @kindex / M (Summary)
6687 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6688 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6691 @kindex / T (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6693 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6696 @kindex / c (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6698 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6699 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6702 @kindex / C (Summary)
6703 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6704 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6705 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6706 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6709 @kindex / N (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6711 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6712 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6715 @kindex / o (Summary)
6716 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6717 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6718 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6721 @kindex / b (Summary)
6722 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
6723 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
6724 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
6725 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
6726 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
6729 @kindex / h (Summary)
6730 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
6731 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
6732 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
6740 @cindex article threading
6742 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6743 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6744 hierarchical fashion.
6746 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6747 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6748 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6749 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6750 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6751 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6752 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6754 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6758 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6761 A tree-like article structure.
6764 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6767 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6768 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6769 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6770 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6771 called loose threads.
6773 @item thread gathering
6774 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6776 @item sparse threads
6777 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6778 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6784 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6785 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6789 @node Customizing Threading
6790 @subsection Customizing Threading
6791 @cindex customizing threading
6794 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6795 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6796 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6797 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6802 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6805 @cindex loose threads
6808 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6809 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6810 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6811 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6812 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6813 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6815 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6816 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6817 There are four possible values:
6821 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6822 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6823 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6824 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6825 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6830 @cindex adopting articles
6835 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6836 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6837 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6838 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6841 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6842 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6843 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6844 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6845 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6846 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6847 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6848 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6849 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6850 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6853 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6854 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6855 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6859 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6860 display them after one another.
6863 Don't gather loose threads.
6866 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6867 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6868 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6869 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6870 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6871 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6872 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6873 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6874 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6875 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6876 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6878 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6879 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6880 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6883 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6884 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6885 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6886 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6887 simplification is used.
6889 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6890 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6891 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6892 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6894 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6896 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6902 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6903 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6904 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6905 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6910 (mapconcat 'identity
6911 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6913 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6916 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6919 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6920 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6921 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6922 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6923 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6924 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6926 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6929 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6930 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6931 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6933 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6934 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6937 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6938 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6939 Remove excessive whitespace.
6941 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6942 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6943 Remove all whitespace.
6946 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6949 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6950 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6951 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6952 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6953 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6954 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6955 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6956 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6958 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6959 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6960 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6961 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6962 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6963 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6964 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6965 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6966 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6970 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6971 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6972 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6973 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6975 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6976 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6977 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6980 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6984 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6985 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6991 @node Filling In Threads
6992 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6995 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6996 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6997 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6998 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6999 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7000 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7001 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7002 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7003 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7004 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7005 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7006 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7009 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7010 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7011 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7013 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7014 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7015 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7018 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7019 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7020 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7021 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7022 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7023 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7024 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7025 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7026 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7027 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7028 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7029 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7030 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7031 @code{nil} by default.
7033 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7034 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7035 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7036 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7037 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7038 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7039 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
7041 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7042 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7043 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7048 @node More Threading
7049 @subsubsection More Threading
7052 @item gnus-show-threads
7053 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7054 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7055 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7056 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7057 slower and more awkward.
7059 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7060 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7061 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7064 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7065 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7066 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7071 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7072 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7073 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7076 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7077 unread, but you get my drift.)
7080 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7081 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7082 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7083 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7084 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7085 threads are expunged.
7087 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7088 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7089 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7092 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7093 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7094 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7095 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7096 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7097 result in a new thread.
7099 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7100 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7101 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7104 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7105 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7106 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7107 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7108 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7109 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7110 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7111 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7112 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7113 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7114 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7119 @node Low-Level Threading
7120 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7124 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7125 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7126 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7128 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7129 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7130 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7131 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7132 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7133 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7134 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7135 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7136 meaningful. Here's one example:
7139 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7141 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7142 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7144 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7146 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7153 @node Thread Commands
7154 @subsection Thread Commands
7155 @cindex thread commands
7161 @kindex T k (Summary)
7162 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7163 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7164 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7165 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7166 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7171 @kindex T l (Summary)
7172 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7173 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7174 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7175 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7178 @kindex T i (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7180 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7181 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7184 @kindex T # (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7186 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7187 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7190 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7191 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7192 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7193 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7196 @kindex T T (Summary)
7197 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7198 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7201 @kindex T s (Summary)
7202 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7203 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7204 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7207 @kindex T h (Summary)
7208 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7209 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7212 @kindex T S (Summary)
7213 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7214 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7217 @kindex T H (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7219 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7222 @kindex T t (Summary)
7223 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7224 Re-thread the current article's thread
7225 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7226 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7229 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7230 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7231 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7232 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7235 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7236 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7237 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7238 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7242 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7243 understand the numeric prefix.
7248 @kindex T n (Summary)
7250 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7252 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7253 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7254 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
7257 @kindex T p (Summary)
7259 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
7261 @kindex M-up (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
7263 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
7266 @kindex T d (Summary)
7267 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
7268 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
7271 @kindex T u (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
7273 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7276 @kindex T o (Summary)
7277 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7278 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7281 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7282 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7283 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7284 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7285 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7286 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7287 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
7288 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
7289 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
7290 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
7291 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
7292 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
7296 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
7297 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
7299 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
7300 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
7301 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
7302 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7303 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
7304 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
7305 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7306 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
7307 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
7308 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
7309 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
7310 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
7311 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
7312 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
7313 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7315 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7316 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7317 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
7318 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7319 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
7320 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7321 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7322 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7323 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7324 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7326 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7327 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7328 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7330 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7331 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7332 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7333 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7334 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7335 ascending article order.
7337 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7338 by number, you could do something like:
7341 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7342 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7343 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7344 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7347 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7348 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7349 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7350 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7351 which the articles arrived.
7353 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7357 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7358 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
7359 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7362 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7363 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7364 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7365 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7368 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7369 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7370 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7371 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7372 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7373 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7374 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7375 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7376 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7377 variable. It is very similar to the
7378 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7379 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7380 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7381 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7382 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7383 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7384 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7386 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7390 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7391 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7392 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7395 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
7396 @xref{Group Parameters}.
7399 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7400 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7401 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7402 @cindex article pre-fetch
7405 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7406 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7407 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7408 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7409 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7411 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7412 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7414 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7415 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7416 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7417 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7418 connection is blocked.
7420 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7421 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7422 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7423 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7425 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7426 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7427 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7428 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7431 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7434 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7435 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7436 happen automatically.
7438 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7439 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7440 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7441 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7442 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7443 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7444 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7446 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7447 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
7448 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7449 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7450 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7451 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7452 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
7453 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7454 article data structure as the only parameter.
7456 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7457 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7460 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7461 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7462 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7463 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7466 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7469 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7470 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7471 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7473 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7474 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7475 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7476 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7480 Remove articles when they are read.
7483 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7486 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7488 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7489 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7490 @c from the next group.
7493 @node Article Caching
7494 @section Article Caching
7495 @cindex article caching
7498 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7499 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7500 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7501 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7502 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7504 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7506 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7507 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7508 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7509 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7510 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7511 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7512 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7513 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7515 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7516 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7517 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7518 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7519 as dormant, and don't worry.
7521 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7523 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7524 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7525 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7526 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7527 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7528 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7529 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7530 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7531 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7532 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7534 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7535 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7536 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7537 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7538 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7539 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7540 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7541 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7542 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7543 not then be downloaded by this command.
7545 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7546 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7547 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7548 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7549 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7550 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7552 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7553 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7554 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7555 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7556 variables, the group is not cached.
7558 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7559 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7560 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7561 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7562 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7563 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7564 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7565 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7566 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7569 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7570 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7571 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7572 where, isn't that cool?
7574 @node Persistent Articles
7575 @section Persistent Articles
7576 @cindex persistent articles
7578 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7579 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7580 useful in my opinion.
7582 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7583 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7584 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7585 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7586 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7587 the expiry going on at the news server.
7589 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7590 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7591 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7597 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7598 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7601 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7602 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7603 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7604 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7608 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7610 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7611 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7612 interested in persistent articles:
7615 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7618 @node Sticky Articles
7619 @section Sticky Articles
7620 @cindex sticky articles
7622 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
7623 according to the value of the variable
7624 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
7625 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
7626 has its own article buffer.
7628 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
7629 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
7630 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
7631 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
7633 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
7634 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
7635 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
7639 @kindex A S (Summary)
7640 @findex gnus-sticky-article
7641 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
7642 name for this sticky article buffer.
7645 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
7651 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
7655 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
7656 Kills this sticky article buffer.
7659 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
7661 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
7662 Kill all sticky article buffers.
7663 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
7666 @node Article Backlog
7667 @section Article Backlog
7669 @cindex article backlog
7671 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7672 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7673 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7674 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7675 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7676 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7677 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7678 increase memory usage some.
7680 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7681 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7682 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7683 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7684 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7685 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7686 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7688 The default value is 20.
7691 @node Saving Articles
7692 @section Saving Articles
7693 @cindex saving articles
7695 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7696 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7697 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7698 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7699 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7701 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7702 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7703 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7705 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7706 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7707 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7709 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7710 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7711 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7712 deleted before saving.
7718 @kindex O o (Summary)
7720 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7721 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7722 Save the current article using the default article saver
7723 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7726 @kindex O m (Summary)
7727 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7728 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
7729 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7732 @kindex O r (Summary)
7733 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7734 Save the current article in Rmail format
7735 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7738 @kindex O f (Summary)
7739 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7740 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7741 Save the current article in plain file format
7742 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7745 @kindex O F (Summary)
7746 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7747 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7748 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7751 @kindex O b (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7753 Save the current article body in plain file format
7754 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7757 @kindex O h (Summary)
7758 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7759 Save the current article in mh folder format
7760 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7763 @kindex O v (Summary)
7764 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7765 Save the current article in a VM folder
7766 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7770 @kindex O p (Summary)
7772 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7773 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7774 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7775 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7776 complete headers in the piped output.
7779 @kindex O P (Summary)
7780 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7781 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7782 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7783 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7784 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7785 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7786 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7790 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7791 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7792 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7793 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7794 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7795 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7796 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7797 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7798 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7799 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7800 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7801 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7805 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7806 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7807 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
7808 functions below, or you can create your own.
7812 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7813 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7814 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7815 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7816 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7817 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7818 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7820 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7821 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7822 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7823 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7824 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7825 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7827 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7828 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7829 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7830 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7831 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7832 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7833 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7835 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7836 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7837 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7838 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7839 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7840 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7842 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7843 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7844 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7845 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7846 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7848 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7849 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7850 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7851 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7852 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7853 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7855 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7856 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7857 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7858 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7859 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7862 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7863 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7864 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7865 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7866 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7868 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7869 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7870 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7871 reader to use this setting.
7874 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
7878 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
7879 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
7880 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
7881 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file}, and
7882 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
7885 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
7886 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
7887 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
7888 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
7889 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
7890 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
7893 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
7894 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
7895 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
7896 headers should be saved.
7899 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7900 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7901 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7902 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7905 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7906 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7907 available functions that generate names:
7911 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7912 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7913 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7915 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7916 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7917 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7919 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7920 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7921 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7923 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7924 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7925 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7927 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7928 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7929 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7932 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7933 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7934 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7935 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7936 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7940 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7941 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7942 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7943 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7946 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7947 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7948 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7949 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7950 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7951 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7952 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7953 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7954 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7956 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7957 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7958 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7959 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7961 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7962 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7963 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7966 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7967 lots of mail groups called things like
7968 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7969 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7970 following will do just that:
7973 (defun my-save-name (group)
7974 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7975 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7977 (setq gnus-split-methods
7978 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7983 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7984 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7985 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7986 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7987 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7988 all the files in the top level directory
7989 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7990 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7991 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7992 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7994 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7995 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7996 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7997 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7998 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8001 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8005 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8006 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8007 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8010 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8011 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8012 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8013 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8016 @node Decoding Articles
8017 @section Decoding Articles
8018 @cindex decoding articles
8020 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8021 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8024 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8025 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8026 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8027 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8028 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8029 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8033 @cindex article series
8034 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8035 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8036 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8037 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8038 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8040 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8041 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8042 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8044 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8045 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8046 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8048 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8049 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8050 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8053 @node Uuencoded Articles
8054 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8056 @cindex uuencoded articles
8061 @kindex X u (Summary)
8062 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8063 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8064 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8067 @kindex X U (Summary)
8068 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8069 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8070 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8073 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8074 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8075 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8078 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8079 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8080 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8081 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8085 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8086 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8087 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8088 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8089 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8091 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8092 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8093 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8094 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8097 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8098 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8099 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8100 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8101 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8102 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8106 @node Shell Archives
8107 @subsection Shell Archives
8109 @cindex shell archives
8110 @cindex shared articles
8112 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8113 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8114 some commands to deal with these:
8119 @kindex X s (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8121 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8124 @kindex X S (Summary)
8125 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8126 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8129 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8130 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8131 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8134 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8135 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8136 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8137 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8141 @node PostScript Files
8142 @subsection PostScript Files
8148 @kindex X p (Summary)
8149 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8150 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8153 @kindex X P (Summary)
8154 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8155 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8156 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8159 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8160 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8161 View the current PostScript series
8162 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8165 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8166 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8167 View and save the current PostScript series
8168 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8173 @subsection Other Files
8177 @kindex X o (Summary)
8178 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8179 Save the current series
8180 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8183 @kindex X b (Summary)
8184 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8185 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8186 doesn't really work yet.
8189 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8190 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8191 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8195 @node Decoding Variables
8196 @subsection Decoding Variables
8198 Adjective, not verb.
8201 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8202 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8203 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8207 @node Rule Variables
8208 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8209 @cindex rule variables
8211 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8212 variables are of the form
8215 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8222 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8223 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8225 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8226 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
8229 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8230 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
8233 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8234 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8235 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
8236 user and default view rules.
8238 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8239 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8240 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
8245 @node Other Decode Variables
8246 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
8249 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8251 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8252 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
8253 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
8254 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
8255 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
8259 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
8260 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
8263 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
8264 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
8265 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
8268 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8269 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8270 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
8271 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
8272 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
8275 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8276 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8277 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
8279 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8280 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8281 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
8282 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
8283 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
8286 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8287 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8288 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
8290 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8291 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8292 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
8293 looking for files to display.
8295 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
8296 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
8297 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
8300 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8301 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8302 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
8305 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8306 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8307 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
8310 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8311 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8312 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
8315 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8316 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8317 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
8318 decoded articles as unread.
8320 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8321 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8322 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
8323 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
8325 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8326 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8327 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
8329 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8330 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8332 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8333 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8334 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8335 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8337 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8338 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8339 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8340 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8341 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8342 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8343 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8344 simply dropped them.
8349 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8350 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8354 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8355 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8356 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8357 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8358 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8359 for you when you post the article.
8361 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8362 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8363 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8364 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8366 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8367 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8368 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8369 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8370 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8371 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8372 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8374 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8375 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8376 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8377 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8378 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8379 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8380 Default is @code{t}.
8386 @subsection Viewing Files
8387 @cindex viewing files
8388 @cindex pseudo-articles
8390 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8391 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8392 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8393 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8394 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8395 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8396 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8398 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8399 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8400 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8401 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8403 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8404 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8405 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8407 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8408 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8409 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8410 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8411 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8413 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8414 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8415 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8416 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8417 a list of parameters to that command.
8419 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8420 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8421 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8423 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8424 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8425 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8428 @node Article Treatment
8429 @section Article Treatment
8431 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8432 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8433 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8434 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8435 these articles easier.
8438 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8439 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8440 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8441 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8442 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8443 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8444 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8445 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8446 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8447 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8448 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8452 @node Article Highlighting
8453 @subsection Article Highlighting
8454 @cindex highlighting
8456 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8457 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8462 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8463 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8464 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8465 Do much highlighting of the current article
8466 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8467 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8470 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8472 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8473 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8474 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8475 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8476 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8477 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8478 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8479 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8480 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8481 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8484 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8485 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8486 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8488 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8491 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8493 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8494 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
8495 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8497 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8498 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8499 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8501 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8502 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8503 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8504 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8505 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8506 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8508 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8509 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8510 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8512 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8513 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8514 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8516 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8517 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8518 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8519 that it's a citation.
8521 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8522 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8523 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8525 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8526 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8527 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8529 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8530 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8531 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8532 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8534 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8535 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8536 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8537 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8538 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8545 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8546 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8547 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8548 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8549 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8550 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8551 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8552 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8557 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8560 @node Article Fontisizing
8561 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8563 @cindex article emphasis
8565 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8566 @kindex W e (Summary)
8567 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8568 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8569 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8570 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8572 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8573 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8574 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8575 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8576 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8577 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8578 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8579 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8583 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8584 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8585 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8594 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8595 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8596 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8597 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8598 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8599 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8600 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8601 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8602 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8603 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8604 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8605 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8606 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8608 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8609 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8610 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8614 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8617 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8619 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8620 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8621 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8622 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8624 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8627 @node Article Hiding
8628 @subsection Article Hiding
8629 @cindex article hiding
8631 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8632 too much cruft in most articles.
8637 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8638 @findex gnus-article-hide
8639 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8640 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8641 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8644 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8645 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8646 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8650 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8652 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8653 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8656 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8657 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8658 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8662 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8663 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8664 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8665 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8666 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8667 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8668 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8669 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8673 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8674 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8675 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8676 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8681 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8683 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8684 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8687 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8688 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8689 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8690 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8693 @cindex stripping advertisements
8694 @cindex advertisements
8695 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8696 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8697 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8698 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8699 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8700 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8701 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8702 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8703 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8704 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8707 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8708 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8709 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8713 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8714 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8715 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8716 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8717 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8718 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8719 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8720 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8721 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8722 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8723 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8726 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8727 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8733 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8734 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8735 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8736 customizing the hiding:
8740 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8741 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8742 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8743 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8744 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8745 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8746 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8751 Starting point of the hidden text.
8753 Ending point of the hidden text.
8755 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8757 Number of lines of hidden text.
8760 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8761 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8762 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8763 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8764 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8769 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8770 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8772 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8773 following two variables:
8776 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8777 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8778 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8779 50), hide the cited text.
8781 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8782 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8783 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8788 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8789 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8790 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8791 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8792 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8793 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8797 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8798 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8799 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8801 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8802 citation customization.
8804 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8808 @node Article Washing
8809 @subsection Article Washing
8811 @cindex article washing
8813 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8814 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8816 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8817 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8820 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8821 articles by default.
8826 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8827 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8831 Force redisplaying of the current article
8832 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8833 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8834 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8835 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8838 @kindex W l (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8840 Remove page breaks from the current article
8841 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8845 @kindex W r (Summary)
8846 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8847 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8848 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8849 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8850 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8851 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8853 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8854 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8855 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8856 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8859 @kindex W m (Summary)
8860 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8861 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8864 @kindex W i (Summary)
8865 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8866 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8867 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8868 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8869 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8870 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8875 @kindex W t (Summary)
8877 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8878 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8879 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8882 @kindex W v (Summary)
8883 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8884 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8885 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8888 @kindex W o (Summary)
8889 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8890 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8893 @kindex W d (Summary)
8894 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8895 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8897 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8899 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8900 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8901 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8902 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8905 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8906 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8907 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8908 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8911 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8912 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8913 @cindex Outlook Express
8914 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8915 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8916 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8919 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8920 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8921 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8922 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8923 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8924 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8925 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8926 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8927 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8928 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8931 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8932 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8933 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8934 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8937 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8938 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8939 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8940 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8943 @kindex W w (Summary)
8944 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8945 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8947 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8951 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8952 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8953 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8956 @kindex W C (Summary)
8957 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8958 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8959 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8962 @kindex W c (Summary)
8963 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8964 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8965 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8966 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8967 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8970 @kindex W q (Summary)
8971 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8972 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8973 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8974 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8975 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
8976 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
8977 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8978 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8979 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8982 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8983 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8984 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8985 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8986 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8987 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8988 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8989 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8992 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8993 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8994 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8995 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8996 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8999 @kindex W A (Summary)
9000 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9001 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9002 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9003 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9004 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9007 @kindex W u (Summary)
9008 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9009 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9010 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9011 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9012 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9015 @kindex W h (Summary)
9016 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9017 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9018 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9019 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9021 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9022 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9023 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9025 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
9026 The default is to use the function specified by
9027 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9028 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9029 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
9030 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
9038 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9040 @item w3m-standalone
9041 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9044 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9047 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9050 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9055 @kindex W b (Summary)
9056 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9057 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9058 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9061 @kindex W B (Summary)
9062 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9063 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9064 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9067 @kindex W p (Summary)
9068 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9069 Verify a signed control message
9070 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9071 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9072 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9073 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9074 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9075 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9078 @kindex W s (Summary)
9079 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9080 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9081 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9082 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9085 @kindex W a (Summary)
9086 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9087 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9088 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9091 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9092 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9093 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9094 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9097 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9098 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9099 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9100 lines with a single empty line.
9101 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9104 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9105 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9106 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9107 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9110 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9111 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9112 Do all the three commands above
9113 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9116 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9117 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9118 Remove all blank lines
9119 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9122 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9123 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9124 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9125 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9128 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9129 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9130 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9131 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9135 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9138 @node Article Header
9139 @subsection Article Header
9141 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9146 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9147 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9148 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9151 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9152 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9153 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9154 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9157 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9158 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9159 Fold all the message headers
9160 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9163 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9164 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9165 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9166 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9171 @node Article Buttons
9172 @subsection Article Buttons
9175 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9176 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9177 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9178 button on these references.
9180 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9181 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9182 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9183 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9184 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9188 @item gnus-button-alist
9189 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9190 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9193 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9199 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9200 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9201 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9202 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9203 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9206 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9207 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9208 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9211 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9212 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9213 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9214 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9215 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9217 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9220 This function will be called when you click on this button.
9223 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
9224 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
9228 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
9231 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
9234 @item gnus-header-button-alist
9235 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
9236 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
9237 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
9238 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
9241 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9244 @var{header} is a regular expression.
9247 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
9250 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
9251 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
9253 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
9255 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
9256 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
9257 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
9258 default values of the variables above.
9260 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
9262 @item gnus-button-man-handler
9263 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9264 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
9265 argument with a string naming the man page.
9267 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
9269 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9270 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9271 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
9273 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9274 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9275 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
9276 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
9277 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
9278 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
9279 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
9280 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
9281 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
9282 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
9283 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
9284 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9286 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9287 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9288 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
9289 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
9290 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
9293 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9294 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9295 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
9296 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9298 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
9300 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
9301 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
9302 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
9303 argument, the string naming the URL.
9306 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
9307 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
9308 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
9312 @item gnus-article-button-face
9313 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
9314 Face used on buttons.
9316 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
9317 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
9318 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
9322 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
9325 @node Article Button Levels
9326 @subsection Article button levels
9327 @cindex button levels
9328 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
9329 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
9330 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
9331 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
9332 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
9333 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
9334 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
9335 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9338 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9339 (setq gnus-parameters
9340 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9341 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9342 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9347 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9348 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9349 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9350 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9351 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9352 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9354 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9355 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9356 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9357 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9358 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9359 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9360 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9361 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9362 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9363 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9364 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9365 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9366 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9368 @item gnus-button-man-level
9369 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9370 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9371 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9373 @item gnus-button-message-level
9374 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9375 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9376 Related variables and functions include
9377 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9378 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9379 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9380 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9382 @item gnus-button-tex-level
9383 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
9384 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
9385 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
9386 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
9387 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
9388 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
9394 @subsection Article Date
9396 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9397 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9398 when the article was sent.
9403 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9404 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9405 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9406 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9409 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9410 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9412 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9413 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9416 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9417 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9418 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9421 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9422 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9423 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9424 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9427 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9428 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9429 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9430 @findex format-time-string
9431 Display the date using a user-defined format
9432 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9433 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9434 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9435 for a list of possible format specs.
9438 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9439 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9440 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9441 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9442 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9443 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9446 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9449 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9450 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9451 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9454 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9455 into wonderful absurdities.
9457 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9460 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9463 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9464 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9468 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9469 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9470 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9471 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9472 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9473 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9474 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9478 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9479 preferred format automatically.
9482 @node Article Display
9483 @subsection Article Display
9488 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9489 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9491 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9492 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9494 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9495 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9497 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9498 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9500 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9501 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9503 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9508 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9509 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9510 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9511 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9514 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9515 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9516 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9517 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9520 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9521 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9522 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9525 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9526 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9527 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9530 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9531 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9532 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9533 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9536 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9537 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9538 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9539 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9542 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9543 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9544 Remove all images from the article buffer
9545 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9551 @node Article Signature
9552 @subsection Article Signature
9554 @cindex article signature
9556 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9557 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9558 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9559 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9560 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9561 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9562 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9563 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9564 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9567 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9568 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9569 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9570 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9571 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9572 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9573 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9574 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9577 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9580 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9581 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9582 signature when displaying articles.
9586 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9589 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9592 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9593 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9595 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9596 in question is not a signature.
9599 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9600 listed above. Here's an example:
9603 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9604 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9607 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9608 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9609 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9610 signature after all.
9613 @node Article Miscellanea
9614 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9618 @kindex A t (Summary)
9619 @findex gnus-article-babel
9620 Translate the article from one language to another
9621 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9627 @section MIME Commands
9628 @cindex MIME decoding
9630 @cindex viewing attachments
9632 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9633 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9639 @kindex K v (Summary)
9640 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9643 @kindex K o (Summary)
9644 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9647 @kindex K O (Summary)
9648 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9649 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9650 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9653 @kindex K r (Summary)
9654 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9657 @kindex K d (Summary)
9658 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9662 @kindex K c (Summary)
9663 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9666 @kindex K e (Summary)
9667 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9670 @kindex K i (Summary)
9671 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9674 @kindex K | (Summary)
9675 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9678 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9683 @kindex K b (Summary)
9684 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9685 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9689 @kindex K m (Summary)
9690 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9691 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9692 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9693 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9694 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9697 @kindex X m (Summary)
9698 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9699 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9700 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9701 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9704 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9705 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9706 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9707 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9710 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9711 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9712 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9713 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9716 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9717 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9718 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9719 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9721 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9722 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9723 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9724 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9725 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9726 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9729 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9730 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9731 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9732 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9739 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9740 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9741 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9742 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9745 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9748 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9752 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9753 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9754 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9755 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9756 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9757 default is @code{t}.
9759 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9760 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9763 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9764 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9765 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9766 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9767 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
9768 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
9769 for encoding in Gnus.
9771 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9772 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9773 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9774 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9775 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9776 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9777 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9778 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9780 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9781 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9782 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9783 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9784 displayed. This variable overrides
9785 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9786 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9789 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9790 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9791 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9793 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
9794 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
9795 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
9796 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
9797 Emacs MIME Manual}).
9799 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9800 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9801 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9802 default value is @code{nil}.
9804 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9805 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9806 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9807 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9808 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9809 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9810 save all jpegs into some directory).
9812 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9815 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9816 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9818 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9819 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9820 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9821 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9822 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9825 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9826 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9827 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9829 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9830 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9831 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9833 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9834 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9835 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9837 If displaying "text/html" is discouraged, see
9838 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
9839 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
9840 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
9841 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
9843 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9844 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9845 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9846 overrides @code{nil} values of
9847 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9848 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9850 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9851 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9852 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9853 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9855 Ready-made functions include@*
9856 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9857 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9858 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9859 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9860 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9861 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9862 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9863 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9864 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9865 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9866 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9867 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9869 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9870 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9872 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9873 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9874 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9877 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9878 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9879 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9880 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9884 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9893 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9894 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9895 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9896 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9897 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9898 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9899 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
9901 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9902 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9903 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9904 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9906 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9907 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9908 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9909 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9910 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9911 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9912 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9913 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9914 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9916 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9917 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9918 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9919 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9920 quoted-printable header encoding.
9922 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9923 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9924 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9928 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9931 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9932 means encode all charsets),
9934 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9935 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9936 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9943 @cindex coding system aliases
9944 @cindex preferred charset
9946 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
9947 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
9948 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
9950 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9952 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9953 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9956 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9957 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9960 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9961 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9963 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9966 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9969 This will almost do the right thing.
9971 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9975 (codepage-setup 1251)
9976 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9980 @node Article Commands
9981 @section Article Commands
9988 @kindex A P (Summary)
9989 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9990 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9991 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9992 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9993 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9994 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9999 @node Summary Sorting
10000 @section Summary Sorting
10001 @cindex summary sorting
10003 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10004 can't really see why you'd want that.
10009 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10010 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10011 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10014 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10015 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10016 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10019 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10020 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10021 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10024 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10025 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10026 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10029 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10030 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10031 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10034 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10035 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10036 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10039 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10040 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10041 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10044 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10045 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10046 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10049 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10050 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10051 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10054 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10055 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10056 Sort using the default sorting method
10057 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10060 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10061 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10062 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10063 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10064 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10068 @node Finding the Parent
10069 @section Finding the Parent
10070 @cindex parent articles
10071 @cindex referring articles
10075 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10076 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10077 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10078 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10079 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10080 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10081 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10082 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10083 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10084 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10086 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10087 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10088 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10089 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10090 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10093 @item A R (Summary)
10094 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10095 @kindex A R (Summary)
10096 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10097 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10099 @item A T (Summary)
10100 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10101 @kindex A T (Summary)
10102 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10103 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10104 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10105 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10106 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10107 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10108 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10110 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10111 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10112 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10113 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10114 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10115 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10117 @item M-^ (Summary)
10118 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10119 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10121 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10122 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10123 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10124 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10125 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10126 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10128 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10129 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10130 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10133 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10134 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10135 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10136 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10137 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10138 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10141 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10142 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10143 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10146 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10147 then ask Google if that fails:
10150 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10152 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10155 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10156 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10157 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10158 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10159 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10160 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
10161 not support this at all.
10164 @node Alternative Approaches
10165 @section Alternative Approaches
10167 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10168 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10171 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10172 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10176 @node Pick and Read
10177 @subsection Pick and Read
10178 @cindex pick and read
10180 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10181 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10182 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10183 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10185 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10186 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10187 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10188 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10189 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10190 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10192 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
10197 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
10198 Pick the article or thread on the current line
10199 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10200 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
10201 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
10202 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
10203 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
10204 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
10207 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
10208 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
10209 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
10210 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
10214 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
10215 Unpick the thread or article
10216 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10217 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
10218 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
10219 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
10220 the thread or article at that line.
10224 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
10225 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
10226 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
10227 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
10228 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
10229 will still be visible when you are reading.
10233 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
10234 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
10235 which is mapped to the same function
10236 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
10238 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
10241 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
10244 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
10245 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
10247 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
10248 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
10249 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
10251 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
10252 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
10253 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
10254 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
10255 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
10256 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
10257 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
10260 @node Binary Groups
10261 @subsection Binary Groups
10262 @cindex binary groups
10264 @findex gnus-binary-mode
10265 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
10266 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
10267 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
10268 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
10269 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
10270 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
10273 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
10274 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
10275 command, when you have turned on this mode
10276 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
10278 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
10279 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
10283 @section Tree Display
10286 @vindex gnus-use-trees
10287 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
10288 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
10289 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
10290 in the tree buffer.
10292 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
10295 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
10296 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
10297 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
10299 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10300 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10301 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
10302 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
10303 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
10305 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
10306 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
10307 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
10308 default is @code{modeline}.
10310 @item gnus-tree-line-format
10311 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
10312 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
10313 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
10314 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
10315 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
10316 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
10322 The name of the poster.
10324 The @code{From} header.
10326 The number of the article.
10328 The opening bracket.
10330 The closing bracket.
10335 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
10337 Variables related to the display are:
10340 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10341 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10342 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10343 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10345 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10346 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10347 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10349 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10351 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10352 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10353 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10354 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10358 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10359 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10360 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10361 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10362 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10363 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10364 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10365 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10366 other windows displayed next to it.
10368 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10372 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10373 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10376 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10377 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10378 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10379 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10380 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10381 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10382 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10386 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10389 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10399 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10404 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10405 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10407 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10409 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10415 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10416 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10417 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10420 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10421 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10422 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10423 (gnus-add-configuration
10427 (summary 0.75 point)
10432 @xref{Window Layout}.
10435 @node Mail Group Commands
10436 @section Mail Group Commands
10437 @cindex mail group commands
10439 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10440 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10442 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10443 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10448 @kindex B e (Summary)
10449 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10450 @cindex expiring mail
10451 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10452 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10453 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10454 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10457 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10458 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10459 @cindex expiring mail
10460 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10461 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10462 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10463 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10466 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10467 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10468 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10469 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10470 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10471 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10474 @kindex B m (Summary)
10476 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10477 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10478 Move the article from one mail group to another
10479 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10480 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10483 @kindex B c (Summary)
10485 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10486 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10487 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10488 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10489 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10492 @kindex B B (Summary)
10493 @cindex crosspost mail
10494 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10495 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10496 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10497 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10498 be properly updated.
10501 @kindex B i (Summary)
10502 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10503 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10504 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10505 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10508 @kindex B I (Summary)
10509 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10510 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10511 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10512 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10515 @kindex B r (Summary)
10516 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10517 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10518 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10519 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10520 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10521 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10522 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10523 (which is the default).
10527 @kindex B w (Summary)
10528 @kindex e (Summary)
10529 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10530 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10531 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10532 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10533 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10534 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10535 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10538 @kindex B q (Summary)
10539 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10540 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10541 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10542 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10545 @kindex B t (Summary)
10546 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10547 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10548 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10551 @kindex B p (Summary)
10552 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10553 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10554 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10555 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10556 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10557 article from your news server (or rather, from
10558 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10559 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10560 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10561 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10562 just not have arrived yet.
10565 @kindex K E (Summary)
10566 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10567 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10568 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10569 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10570 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10574 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10575 @cindex moving articles
10576 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10577 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10578 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10579 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10580 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10581 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10582 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10585 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10586 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10587 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10588 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10592 @node Various Summary Stuff
10593 @section Various Summary Stuff
10596 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10597 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10598 * Summary Generation Commands::
10599 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10603 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10604 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10605 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10606 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10607 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10608 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10610 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10611 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10612 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10615 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10616 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10617 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10619 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10620 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10621 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10622 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10623 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10624 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10627 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10628 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10629 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10630 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10631 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10633 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10634 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10635 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10638 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10639 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10640 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10641 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10642 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10643 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10644 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10645 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10646 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10647 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10649 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10650 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10651 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10652 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10653 list of articles to be selected.
10655 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10656 the list in one particular group:
10659 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10660 (if (string= group "some.group")
10661 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10665 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10666 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10667 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10668 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10669 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10672 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10673 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10674 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10675 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10676 variable will be used instead.
10678 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10679 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10680 buffers. For example:
10683 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10684 '(message-use-followup-to
10685 (gnus-visible-headers .
10686 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10689 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10693 @node Summary Group Information
10694 @subsection Summary Group Information
10699 @kindex H f (Summary)
10700 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10701 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10702 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10703 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10704 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10705 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10706 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10707 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10708 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10711 @kindex H d (Summary)
10712 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10713 Give a brief description of the current group
10714 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10715 rereading the description from the server.
10718 @kindex H h (Summary)
10719 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10720 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10721 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10724 @kindex H i (Summary)
10725 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10726 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10730 @node Searching for Articles
10731 @subsection Searching for Articles
10736 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10737 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10738 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10739 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10742 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10743 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10744 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10745 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10748 @kindex M-S (Summary)
10749 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
10750 Repeat the previous search forwards
10751 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
10754 @kindex M-R (Summary)
10755 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
10756 Repeat the previous search backwards
10757 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
10760 @kindex & (Summary)
10761 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10762 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10763 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10764 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10765 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10766 search backward instead.
10768 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10769 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10772 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10773 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10774 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10775 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10778 @node Summary Generation Commands
10779 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10784 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10785 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10786 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10789 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10790 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10791 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10792 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10795 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10796 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10797 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10798 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10801 @kindex Y t (Summary)
10802 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
10803 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10804 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
10809 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10810 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10816 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10817 @kindex A D (Summary)
10818 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10819 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10820 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10821 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10822 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10823 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10824 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10825 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10828 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
10829 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
10830 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
10835 Select the next article.
10838 Select the next unread article.
10840 @item next-noselect
10841 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
10843 @item next-unread-noselect
10844 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
10847 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
10848 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
10851 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10852 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10853 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10854 several documents into one biiig group
10855 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10856 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10857 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10858 command understands the process/prefix convention
10859 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10862 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10863 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10864 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10865 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10866 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10867 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10870 @kindex = (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10872 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10873 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10876 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10877 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10878 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10879 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10882 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10883 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10884 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10885 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10890 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10891 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10892 @cindex summary exit
10893 @cindex exiting groups
10895 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10896 group and return you to the group buffer.
10903 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10904 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10905 @kindex q (Summary)
10906 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10907 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10908 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10909 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10910 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10911 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10912 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10913 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10914 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10915 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10916 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10917 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10921 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10922 @kindex Q (Summary)
10923 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10924 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10925 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10929 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10930 @kindex c (Summary)
10931 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10932 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10933 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10934 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10937 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10938 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10939 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10940 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10943 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10944 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10945 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10946 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10949 @kindex Z p (Summary)
10950 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
10951 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
10952 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
10956 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10957 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10958 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10959 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10960 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10961 all articles, both read and unread.
10965 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10966 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10967 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10968 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10969 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10970 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10971 articles, both read and unread.
10974 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10975 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10976 Exit the group and go to the next group
10977 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10980 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10981 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10982 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10983 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10986 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10987 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10988 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10989 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10990 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10991 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10994 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10995 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10996 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10997 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10999 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11000 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11001 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11002 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11003 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11004 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11005 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11006 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11007 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11008 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11009 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11010 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11012 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11014 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11015 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11016 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11017 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11018 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11019 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11020 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11021 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11022 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11025 @node Crosspost Handling
11026 @section Crosspost Handling
11030 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11031 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11032 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11033 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11034 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11035 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
11038 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11039 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11040 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11041 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11042 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11044 @cindex cross-posting
11046 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11047 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11048 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11049 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11050 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11051 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11052 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11053 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11054 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11055 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11056 the cross reference mechanism.
11058 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11059 @cindex overview.fmt
11060 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11061 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11062 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11063 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11064 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11065 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11068 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11069 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11070 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11074 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11077 @node Duplicate Suppression
11078 @section Duplicate Suppression
11080 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11081 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11082 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11083 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11088 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11089 is evil and not very common.
11092 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11093 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11096 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11097 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11100 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11103 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11104 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11106 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11107 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11108 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11109 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11110 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11111 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11112 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11115 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11116 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11117 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11118 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11119 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11120 saw the article in.
11123 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11124 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11125 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11127 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11128 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11129 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11130 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11131 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11132 session are suppressed.
11134 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11135 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11136 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11137 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11139 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11140 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11141 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11142 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11145 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11146 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11147 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11148 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11149 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11150 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11151 to you to figure out, I think.
11156 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11157 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11158 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11163 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11164 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
11165 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
11166 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
11169 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11170 or newer is recommended.
11174 The variables that control security functionality on reading messages
11178 @item mm-verify-option
11179 @vindex mm-verify-option
11180 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11181 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11182 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11184 @item mm-decrypt-option
11185 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11186 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11187 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
11188 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11191 @vindex mml1991-use
11192 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11193 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
11194 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
11198 @vindex mml2015-use
11199 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11200 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
11201 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
11206 By default the buttons that display security information are not
11207 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
11208 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
11209 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
11210 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
11211 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
11212 how to customize these variables to always display security
11215 @cindex snarfing keys
11216 @cindex importing PGP keys
11217 @cindex PGP key ring import
11218 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
11219 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
11220 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
11221 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
11222 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
11223 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
11224 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
11225 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
11226 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
11229 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
11232 This happens to also be the default action defined in
11233 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
11235 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
11236 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
11237 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
11240 @section Mailing List
11241 @cindex mailing list
11244 @kindex A M (summary)
11245 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
11246 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
11247 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
11248 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
11251 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
11256 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
11257 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
11258 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
11261 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
11262 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
11263 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
11266 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
11267 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
11268 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
11272 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
11273 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
11274 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
11277 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
11278 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
11279 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
11282 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
11283 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
11284 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
11289 @node Article Buffer
11290 @chapter Article Buffer
11291 @cindex article buffer
11293 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
11294 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
11295 tell Gnus otherwise.
11298 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
11299 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
11300 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
11301 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
11302 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
11306 @node Hiding Headers
11307 @section Hiding Headers
11308 @cindex hiding headers
11309 @cindex deleting headers
11311 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
11312 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
11314 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
11315 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
11316 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
11317 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
11318 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
11319 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
11320 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
11321 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
11322 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
11324 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
11328 @item gnus-visible-headers
11329 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
11330 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
11331 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
11332 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
11334 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
11335 the article and the subject, you'd say:
11338 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
11341 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11344 @item gnus-ignored-headers
11345 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
11346 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
11347 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
11348 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
11349 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
11351 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
11352 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
11355 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
11358 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11361 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
11362 variable will have no effect.
11366 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
11367 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
11368 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
11369 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
11370 the headers are to be displayed.
11372 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
11373 and then the subject, you might say something like:
11376 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
11379 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
11380 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
11382 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
11383 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
11384 You can hide further boring headers by setting
11385 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
11386 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
11387 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
11388 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
11391 These conditions are:
11394 Remove all empty headers.
11396 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11397 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11399 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11400 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11403 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11406 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11407 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11409 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11410 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11412 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
11413 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11415 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11418 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
11420 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
11423 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11426 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11427 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11430 This is also the default value for this variable.
11434 @section Using MIME
11435 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11437 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11438 while people stand around yawning.
11440 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11441 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11443 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11444 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11445 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11447 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11448 @findex gnus-display-mime
11449 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11450 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11451 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11452 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11454 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11455 @acronym{MIME} button:
11458 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11459 @item RET (Article)
11460 @kindex RET (Article)
11461 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11462 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11463 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11464 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11465 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11466 object is displayed inline.
11468 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11469 @item M-RET (Article)
11470 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11472 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11473 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11475 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11477 @kindex t (Article)
11478 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11479 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11481 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11483 @kindex C (Article)
11484 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11485 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11487 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11489 @kindex o (Article)
11490 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11491 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11493 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11494 @item C-o (Article)
11495 @kindex C-o (Article)
11496 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11497 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11498 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11499 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11500 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11501 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11503 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11505 @kindex r (Article)
11506 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11507 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
11508 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11510 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11512 @kindex d (Article)
11513 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11514 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11515 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11517 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11519 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11521 @kindex c (Article)
11522 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11523 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11524 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11525 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11526 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11527 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11528 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11529 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11531 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11533 @kindex p (Article)
11534 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11535 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11536 @file{.mailcap} file.
11538 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11540 @kindex i (Article)
11541 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11542 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
11543 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11544 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11545 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11546 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11547 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11548 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11549 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11551 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11553 @kindex E (Article)
11554 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11555 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11556 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11558 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11560 @kindex e (Article)
11561 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11562 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11564 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11566 @kindex | (Article)
11567 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11569 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11571 @kindex . (Article)
11572 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11573 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11577 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11578 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11579 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11581 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11582 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11583 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11584 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11585 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11586 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11587 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11588 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11589 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11591 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11593 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11596 @node Customizing Articles
11597 @section Customizing Articles
11598 @cindex article customization
11600 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11601 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11602 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11603 called automatically when you select the articles.
11605 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11606 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11607 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11608 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11610 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11611 for sensible values.
11615 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11618 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11621 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11624 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11627 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11630 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11634 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11635 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11636 regexps in the list.
11639 A list where the first element is not a string:
11641 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11642 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11643 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11647 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11652 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11653 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11654 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11655 considered to contain just a single part.
11657 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11658 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11659 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11660 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11661 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11662 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11663 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11666 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
11667 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
11669 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
11670 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
11671 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
11672 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
11673 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
11674 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
11675 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
11676 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
11677 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
11678 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
11679 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
11680 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
11681 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
11682 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
11683 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
11684 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
11685 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
11686 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
11687 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
11688 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
11689 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
11690 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
11691 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
11692 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
11693 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11694 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11695 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11696 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11697 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
11698 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
11699 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
11700 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
11701 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
11702 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
11703 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
11704 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
11705 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
11706 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
11707 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
11708 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
11709 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
11710 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
11711 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
11712 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
11713 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
11714 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
11717 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11718 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11719 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11720 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11723 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11724 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11726 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11728 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11729 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11730 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11731 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11732 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11733 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11734 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11735 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11736 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11737 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11739 @xref{Article Washing}.
11741 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11742 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11743 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11744 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11745 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11746 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11747 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11749 @xref{Article Date}.
11751 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11752 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11753 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11757 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11759 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11761 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11762 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11763 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11767 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11768 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11772 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11773 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11777 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11778 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11779 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11780 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11781 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
11782 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11783 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
11784 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11785 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
11786 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11787 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
11788 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11789 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
11790 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11791 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
11792 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11793 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
11794 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11795 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
11796 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11798 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11800 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
11801 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11802 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
11803 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11804 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
11805 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11807 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11809 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
11810 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11811 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
11812 @item gnus-treat-translate
11813 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
11814 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
11815 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11817 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
11818 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11819 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
11820 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11821 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
11822 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11823 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
11824 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11826 @xref{Article Header}.
11831 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11832 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11833 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11834 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11835 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11839 @node Article Keymap
11840 @section Article Keymap
11842 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11843 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11844 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11845 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11848 @kindex v (Article)
11849 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
11850 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
11851 command or better use it as a prefix key.
11853 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11858 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11859 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11860 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11861 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11864 @kindex DEL (Article)
11865 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11866 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11867 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11870 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11871 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11872 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11873 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11874 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11877 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11878 @findex gnus-article-mail
11879 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11880 given a prefix, include the mail.
11883 @kindex s (Article)
11884 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11885 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11886 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11889 @kindex ? (Article)
11890 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11891 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11892 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11895 @kindex TAB (Article)
11896 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11897 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11898 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11901 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11902 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11903 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11906 @kindex R (Article)
11907 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11908 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11909 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
11910 only yank the text in the region.
11913 @kindex S W (Article)
11914 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
11915 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
11916 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
11917 active, only yank the text in the region.
11920 @kindex F (Article)
11921 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11922 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11923 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
11924 only yank the text in the region.
11931 @section Misc Article
11935 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11936 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11937 @cindex article buffers, several
11938 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11939 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11942 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11943 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11944 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11945 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11946 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11948 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11949 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11950 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11951 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11952 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11953 the contents of the article buffer.
11955 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11956 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11957 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11959 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11960 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11961 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11962 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11964 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11965 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11966 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11967 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11969 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11970 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11971 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11972 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
11973 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
11974 with two extensions:
11979 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11980 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11981 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11986 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11989 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11992 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11993 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11994 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11997 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12000 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12003 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
12008 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12012 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12014 @item gnus-break-pages
12015 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12016 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12017 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12018 paging will not be done.
12020 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12021 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12022 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12026 @cindex internationalized domain names
12027 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12028 @item gnus-use-idna
12029 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12030 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12031 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12032 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12033 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12034 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12039 @node Composing Messages
12040 @chapter Composing Messages
12041 @cindex composing messages
12044 @cindex sending mail
12049 @cindex using s/mime
12050 @cindex using smime
12052 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12053 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12054 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12055 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12056 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12057 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12060 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12061 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12062 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12063 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12064 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12065 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12066 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12067 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12068 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12071 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12072 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12078 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12081 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12082 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12083 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12084 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12085 @code{nil} include all headers.
12087 @item gnus-add-to-list
12088 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12089 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12090 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12092 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12093 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12094 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12095 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12096 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12097 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12098 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12099 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12101 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12102 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12104 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12105 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12106 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12107 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12108 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12113 @node Posting Server
12114 @section Posting Server
12116 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12117 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12119 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12121 It can be quite complicated.
12123 @vindex gnus-post-method
12124 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12125 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12126 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12127 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12128 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12129 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12130 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12131 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12132 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12135 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12138 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12139 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12140 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12141 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12143 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12144 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12146 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12147 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12150 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12151 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12153 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12154 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12155 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12156 value suitable for your system.
12157 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12160 @node POP before SMTP
12161 @section POP before SMTP
12162 @cindex pop before smtp
12163 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
12164 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12166 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12167 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
12168 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
12169 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
12170 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12173 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
12174 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12178 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
12179 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
12180 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
12181 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
12182 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
12183 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
12184 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
12185 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12187 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
12188 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
12189 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
12190 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
12191 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
12192 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
12195 (setq mail-source-primary-source
12196 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12197 :password "secret"))
12201 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
12202 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
12205 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
12207 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
12208 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12209 :password "secret")))
12210 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
12213 @node Mail and Post
12214 @section Mail and Post
12216 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
12220 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
12221 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
12222 @cindex mailing lists
12224 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
12225 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
12226 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
12227 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
12228 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
12229 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
12230 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
12231 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
12232 still a pain, though.
12234 @item gnus-user-agent
12235 @vindex gnus-user-agent
12238 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
12239 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
12240 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
12241 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
12242 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
12243 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
12244 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
12248 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
12249 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
12250 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
12253 @findex ispell-message
12255 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
12258 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
12259 you're in, you could say something like the following:
12262 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
12266 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
12267 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
12269 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
12272 Modify to suit your needs.
12274 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
12275 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
12276 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
12279 @node Archived Messages
12280 @section Archived Messages
12281 @cindex archived messages
12282 @cindex sent messages
12284 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
12285 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
12286 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
12287 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
12290 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
12291 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
12294 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
12295 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
12296 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
12297 actually being used it is expanded into:
12300 (nnfolder "archive"
12301 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
12302 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
12303 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
12304 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
12308 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
12309 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
12310 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
12311 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
12312 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
12313 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
12314 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12315 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
12316 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
12317 saved method to reflect always the value of
12318 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
12319 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
12320 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
12323 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
12324 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
12325 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
12326 directory chosen, you could say something like:
12329 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
12330 '(nnfolder "archive"
12331 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
12332 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
12333 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
12336 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
12338 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
12339 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
12340 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
12342 This variable can be used to do the following:
12346 Messages will be saved in that group.
12348 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
12349 message will not be stored in the select method given by
12350 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
12351 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12352 has the default value shown above. Then setting
12353 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
12354 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
12355 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
12358 @item a list of strings
12359 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
12361 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
12362 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
12365 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
12370 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
12372 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
12375 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
12377 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
12380 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
12382 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12383 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
12384 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
12385 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
12388 More complex stuff:
12390 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12391 '((if (message-news-p)
12396 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
12397 messages in one file per month:
12400 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12401 '((if (message-news-p)
12403 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
12406 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
12407 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
12409 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
12410 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
12411 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
12412 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
12413 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
12414 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
12415 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
12416 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
12417 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
12418 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
12420 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
12421 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
12422 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
12423 this will disable archiving.
12426 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
12427 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
12428 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
12429 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
12430 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
12433 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
12434 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
12435 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
12438 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
12439 but the latter is the preferred method.
12441 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12442 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12443 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
12445 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12446 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12447 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
12448 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
12449 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
12450 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
12451 changed in the future.
12456 @node Posting Styles
12457 @section Posting Styles
12458 @cindex posting styles
12461 All them variables, they make my head swim.
12463 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
12464 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
12465 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
12468 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
12469 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
12470 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
12471 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
12472 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
12477 (signature "Peace and happiness")
12478 (organization "What me?"))
12480 (signature "Death to everybody"))
12481 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
12482 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12485 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12486 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12487 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12488 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12489 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12490 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12491 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12492 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12494 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12495 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12496 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12497 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12498 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12499 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12500 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12501 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12502 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12503 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12504 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12505 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12506 said to @dfn{match}.
12508 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12509 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12510 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12511 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12512 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12513 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12514 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12515 name can be one of:
12518 @item @code{signature}
12519 @item @code{signature-file}
12520 @item @code{x-face-file}
12521 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12522 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12526 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
12527 @code{message-signature-directory}.
12529 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12530 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12531 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12532 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12533 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12535 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
12536 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
12537 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
12538 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12539 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
12540 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
12541 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
12542 references chars lines xref extra.
12544 @vindex message-reply-headers
12546 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12547 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12548 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12550 @findex message-mail-p
12551 @findex message-news-p
12553 So here's a new example:
12556 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12558 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12560 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
12561 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12562 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12564 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12565 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12566 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12567 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12568 (signature my-news-signature))
12569 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12570 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12571 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12572 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12573 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12574 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12575 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12576 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12577 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12578 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12580 (From (save-excursion
12581 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
12582 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12584 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12587 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12588 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12589 if you fill many roles.
12590 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
12591 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
12597 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12598 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12599 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12600 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12601 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12603 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12604 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12605 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12606 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12607 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12611 @vindex nndraft-directory
12612 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12613 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12614 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12615 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12616 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12617 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12619 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12620 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12621 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12622 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12623 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12624 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12625 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12626 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12627 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12629 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12630 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12631 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12632 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12633 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12634 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12635 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12636 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12637 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12638 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12639 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12640 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12641 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12642 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12644 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12645 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12646 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12648 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12649 @kindex D e (Draft)
12650 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12651 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12652 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12654 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12657 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12658 @kindex D s (Draft)
12659 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12660 @kindex D S (Draft)
12661 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12662 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12663 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12664 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12665 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12668 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12669 @kindex D t (Draft)
12670 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12671 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12672 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12675 @node Rejected Articles
12676 @section Rejected Articles
12677 @cindex rejected articles
12679 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12680 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12681 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12682 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12684 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12685 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
12686 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
12687 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
12688 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
12690 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
12691 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
12692 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
12694 @node Signing and encrypting
12695 @section Signing and encrypting
12697 @cindex using s/mime
12698 @cindex using smime
12700 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
12701 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
12702 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
12703 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
12705 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
12706 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
12707 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
12708 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
12709 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12710 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12711 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12712 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12713 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12714 automatically encrypted messages.
12716 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12717 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12718 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12723 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12724 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12726 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12729 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12730 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12732 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12735 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12736 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12738 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12741 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12742 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12744 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12747 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12748 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12750 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12753 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12754 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12756 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12759 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12760 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12761 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12765 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12767 @node Select Methods
12768 @chapter Select Methods
12769 @cindex foreign groups
12770 @cindex select methods
12772 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12773 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12774 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12775 personal mail group.
12777 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12778 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12779 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12780 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12781 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12782 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12784 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12785 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12787 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12790 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12791 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12792 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12793 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12794 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12796 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12799 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12800 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12801 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12802 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12803 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12804 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12805 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12806 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
12807 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12811 @node Server Buffer
12812 @section Server Buffer
12814 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12815 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12816 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12817 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12818 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12819 back end represents a virtual server.
12821 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12822 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12823 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12824 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12826 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12827 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12828 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12829 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12830 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12831 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12832 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12834 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12835 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12838 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12839 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12840 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12841 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12842 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12843 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12844 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12847 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12848 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12851 @node Server Buffer Format
12852 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12853 @cindex server buffer format
12855 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12856 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12857 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12858 variable, with some simple extensions:
12863 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12866 The name of this server.
12869 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12872 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12875 Whether this server is agentized.
12878 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12879 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12880 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12881 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12891 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12894 @node Server Commands
12895 @subsection Server Commands
12896 @cindex server commands
12902 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
12903 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12904 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12908 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12909 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12913 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12914 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12917 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12918 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12919 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12923 @findex gnus-server-exit
12924 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12928 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12929 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12933 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12934 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12938 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12939 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12943 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12944 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12948 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12949 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12950 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12955 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12956 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12957 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12958 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12962 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
12964 Compact all groups in the server under point
12965 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
12966 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
12967 hence getting a correct total article count.
12972 @node Example Methods
12973 @subsection Example Methods
12975 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12978 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12981 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12987 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12988 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12991 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12992 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12994 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12995 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12999 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13002 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13003 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13005 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13006 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13007 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13011 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13014 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13017 Here's the method for a public spool:
13021 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13022 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13028 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13029 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13030 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13031 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13032 should probably look something like this:
13036 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
13037 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13038 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
13039 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
13042 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13043 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13044 configuration to the example above:
13047 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13050 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13051 an indirect connection:
13053 (setq gnus-select-method
13055 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13056 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13057 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13058 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13059 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
13060 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
13061 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)))
13064 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13065 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13066 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
13070 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13071 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
13072 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
13073 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
13076 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13077 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
13078 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
13079 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
13082 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13083 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13085 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13086 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13088 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13089 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13090 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13092 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13094 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13095 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13096 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13097 will contain the following:
13107 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13108 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13111 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13112 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13113 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13116 @node Server Variables
13117 @subsection Server Variables
13118 @cindex server variables
13119 @cindex server parameters
13121 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13122 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13123 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13124 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13125 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13127 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13128 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13129 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13130 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13131 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13132 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13133 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13134 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13135 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13139 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13140 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13141 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13144 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13146 @node Servers and Methods
13147 @subsection Servers and Methods
13149 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13150 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13151 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13152 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13156 @node Unavailable Servers
13157 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13159 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13160 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13161 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13162 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13163 actually the case or not.
13165 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13166 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13167 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13168 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13169 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13170 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13171 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13172 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13174 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13175 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13177 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13178 with the following commands:
13184 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13185 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13186 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
13190 @findex gnus-server-close-server
13191 Close the connection (if any) to the server
13192 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
13196 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
13197 Mark the current server as unreachable
13198 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
13201 @kindex M-o (Server)
13202 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
13203 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
13204 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
13207 @kindex M-c (Server)
13208 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
13209 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
13210 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
13214 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
13215 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
13216 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
13220 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
13221 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
13227 @section Getting News
13228 @cindex reading news
13229 @cindex news back ends
13231 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
13232 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
13233 or it can read from a local spool.
13236 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13237 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
13245 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
13246 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
13247 server as the, uhm, address.
13249 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
13250 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
13251 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
13252 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13254 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
13255 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
13256 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
13258 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
13263 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
13264 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
13265 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
13267 @cindex authentication
13268 @cindex nntp authentication
13269 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13270 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
13271 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
13272 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
13273 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
13274 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
13275 present in this hook.
13277 @item nntp-authinfo-function
13278 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
13279 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13280 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
13281 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
13282 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
13283 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
13284 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
13285 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
13286 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
13287 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
13288 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
13292 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
13295 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
13297 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
13298 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
13299 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
13300 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
13301 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
13302 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
13303 @samp{force} is explained below.
13307 Here's an example file:
13310 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
13311 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
13314 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
13315 have to be first, for instance.
13317 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
13318 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
13319 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
13320 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
13321 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
13322 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
13323 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
13325 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
13326 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
13332 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
13333 previously mentioned.
13335 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
13337 @item nntp-server-action-alist
13338 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
13339 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
13340 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
13341 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
13344 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
13345 '(("innd" (ding))))
13348 You probably don't want to do that, though.
13350 The default value is
13353 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
13354 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
13355 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
13358 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
13359 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
13361 @item nntp-maximum-request
13362 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
13363 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
13364 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
13365 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
13366 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
13367 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
13368 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
13370 @item nntp-connection-timeout
13371 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
13372 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
13373 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
13374 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
13375 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
13376 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
13377 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
13378 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
13379 no timeouts are done.
13381 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
13382 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
13383 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
13384 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
13387 @item nntp-xover-commands
13388 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
13389 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
13391 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
13392 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
13396 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
13397 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
13398 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
13399 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
13400 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
13401 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
13402 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
13403 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
13404 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
13405 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
13406 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
13408 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13409 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13410 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
13411 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
13412 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
13413 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
13414 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
13415 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
13416 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
13417 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
13418 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
13419 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
13420 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
13421 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
13422 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
13423 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
13424 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
13427 (setq gnus-select-method
13429 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
13430 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
13434 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
13436 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
13437 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
13438 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13440 @item nntp-record-commands
13441 @vindex nntp-record-commands
13442 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
13443 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
13444 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
13445 that doesn't seem to work.
13447 @item nntp-open-connection-function
13448 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
13449 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
13450 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
13451 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
13452 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
13453 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
13454 indirect ones (three pre-made).
13456 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
13457 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
13458 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
13459 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
13460 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
13461 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
13462 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
13463 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
13464 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
13466 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13467 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13468 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
13469 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
13470 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
13471 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
13472 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
13474 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
13475 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
13476 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
13477 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
13478 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
13479 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
13480 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
13483 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
13486 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
13487 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
13492 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
13493 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
13494 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
13495 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
13499 @node Direct Functions
13500 @subsubsection Direct Functions
13501 @cindex direct connection functions
13503 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
13504 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
13505 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
13506 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13509 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
13510 @item nntp-open-network-stream
13511 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
13514 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
13515 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
13516 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13517 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
13518 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13521 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13522 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
13524 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13525 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
13526 (nntp-port-number )
13527 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13530 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
13531 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
13532 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13533 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
13534 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
13535 then define a server as follows:
13538 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13539 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
13541 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13542 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
13543 (nntp-port-number 563)
13544 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13547 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
13548 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
13549 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
13550 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
13551 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
13552 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
13553 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
13554 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
13558 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13559 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
13560 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13563 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13564 session, which is not a good idea.
13568 @node Indirect Functions
13569 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13570 @cindex indirect connection functions
13572 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13573 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13574 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13575 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13576 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13577 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13580 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13581 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13582 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
13583 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13584 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13586 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13589 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13590 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13591 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13592 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13594 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13595 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13596 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13597 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13598 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13599 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
13600 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13601 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13605 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13606 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13608 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13609 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13610 Does essentially the same, but uses
13611 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} instead of @samp{telnet}
13612 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13614 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13617 @item nntp-via-netcat-command
13618 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-command
13619 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13620 intermediate host. The default is @samp{nc}. You can also use other
13621 programs like @uref{http://www.imasy.or.jp/~gotoh/ssh/connect.html,
13624 @item nntp-via-netcat-switches
13625 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-switches
13626 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13627 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{nil}.
13629 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13630 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13631 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13632 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13634 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13635 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13636 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13637 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}.
13640 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13641 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13642 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
13643 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
13645 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13648 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
13649 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
13650 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
13653 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
13654 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
13655 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13656 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
13658 @item nntp-via-user-password
13659 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
13660 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
13662 @item nntp-via-envuser
13663 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
13664 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
13665 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
13666 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
13668 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
13669 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
13670 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
13671 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
13675 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13676 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13680 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
13685 @item nntp-via-user-name
13686 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
13687 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
13689 @item nntp-via-address
13690 @vindex nntp-via-address
13691 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
13696 @node Common Variables
13697 @subsubsection Common Variables
13699 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
13700 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
13701 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
13702 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
13703 variables individually).
13707 @item nntp-pre-command
13708 @vindex nntp-pre-command
13709 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
13710 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
13711 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
13712 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
13715 @vindex nntp-address
13716 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13718 @item nntp-port-number
13719 @vindex nntp-port-number
13720 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13721 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
13722 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
13723 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
13724 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
13725 not work with named ports.
13727 @item nntp-end-of-line
13728 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
13729 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
13730 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
13731 using a non native telnet connection function.
13733 @item nntp-telnet-command
13734 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13735 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
13736 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
13737 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13740 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13741 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13742 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
13748 @subsubsection NNTP marks
13749 @cindex storing NNTP marks
13751 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
13752 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
13753 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
13754 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
13755 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
13756 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
13757 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
13758 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
13760 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
13761 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
13762 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
13763 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
13764 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13766 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
13767 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
13768 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
13769 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
13770 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
13771 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
13772 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
13774 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
13775 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
13776 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13782 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
13783 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
13784 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
13785 default is @code{nil}.
13787 @item nntp-marks-directory
13788 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
13789 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
13795 @subsection News Spool
13799 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
13800 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
13801 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
13804 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
13805 anything else) as the address.
13807 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
13808 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
13809 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
13810 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
13814 @item nnspool-inews-program
13815 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
13816 Program used to post an article.
13818 @item nnspool-inews-switches
13819 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
13820 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
13822 @item nnspool-spool-directory
13823 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
13824 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
13825 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
13827 @item nnspool-nov-directory
13828 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
13829 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
13830 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
13832 @item nnspool-lib-dir
13833 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
13834 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
13836 @item nnspool-active-file
13837 @vindex nnspool-active-file
13838 The name of the active file.
13840 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
13841 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
13842 The name of the group descriptions file.
13844 @item nnspool-history-file
13845 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13846 The name of the news history file.
13848 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13849 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13850 The name of the active date file.
13852 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13853 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13854 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13857 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13858 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13860 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13861 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13862 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13869 @section Getting Mail
13870 @cindex reading mail
13873 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13877 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13878 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13879 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13880 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13881 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13882 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13883 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13884 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13885 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13886 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13887 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13888 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13889 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13893 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13894 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13896 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13897 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13898 of a culture shock.
13900 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13901 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13903 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13904 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13905 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13906 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13908 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13910 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13911 deleted? How awful!
13913 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13914 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13915 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13916 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13919 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13920 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13921 they want to treat a message.
13923 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13924 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13925 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13926 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13927 archived somewhere else.
13929 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13930 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13931 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13932 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13933 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13935 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13936 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13937 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13939 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13940 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13943 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13944 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13945 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13946 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13947 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13949 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13950 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13951 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13952 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13953 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13954 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13958 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13959 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13961 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13962 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13963 and things will happen automatically.
13965 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13966 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13969 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13972 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13973 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13974 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13975 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13976 like any other group.
13978 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13981 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13982 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13983 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13987 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13988 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13989 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13992 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13993 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13994 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13997 @node Splitting Mail
13998 @subsection Splitting Mail
13999 @cindex splitting mail
14000 @cindex mail splitting
14001 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14003 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14004 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14005 to be split into groups.
14008 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14009 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14010 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14011 ("mail.other" "")))
14014 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14015 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14016 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14017 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14018 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14019 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14020 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14023 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14027 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14028 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14030 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14031 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14032 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14033 mail belongs in that group.
14035 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14036 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14037 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14038 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14039 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14040 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14041 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14042 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14043 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14044 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14046 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14047 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14048 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14049 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14050 thinks should carry this mail message.
14052 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14053 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14054 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14055 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14057 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14058 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14059 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14060 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14061 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14063 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14066 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14067 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14068 links. If that's the case for you, set
14069 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14070 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14072 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14073 @findex nnmail-split-history
14074 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14075 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14076 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14077 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14080 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14081 Header lines longer than the value of
14082 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14085 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14086 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14087 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14088 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14089 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14090 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14091 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14092 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14093 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14094 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14095 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14096 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14098 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14099 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14100 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14101 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14102 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14103 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14104 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14105 other kinds of entries.)
14107 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14108 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14109 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14110 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14111 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14112 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14113 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14114 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14115 month's rent money.
14119 @subsection Mail Sources
14121 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14122 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14123 maildir, for instance.
14126 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14127 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14128 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14132 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14133 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14135 @cindex mail server
14138 @cindex mail source
14140 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14141 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14146 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14149 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14150 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14151 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14154 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14155 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14156 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14157 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14158 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14159 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14160 group might look like this:
14163 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14166 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14167 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14169 The following mail source types are available:
14173 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14179 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14180 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
14181 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
14185 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14188 An example file mail source:
14191 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
14194 Or using the default file name:
14200 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
14201 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
14202 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
14203 mail spool while moving the mail.
14205 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
14209 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
14212 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
14216 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
14219 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
14221 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
14224 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
14225 file you want to use.
14229 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
14230 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
14231 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
14232 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
14233 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
14234 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
14235 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
14236 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
14237 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
14238 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
14240 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14241 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
14242 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
14243 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
14249 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
14253 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
14257 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
14258 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
14259 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
14260 predicate are considered.
14264 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14268 An example directory mail source:
14271 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
14276 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14282 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
14283 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14286 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
14287 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
14288 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
14289 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
14290 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
14293 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
14297 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
14298 the user is prompted.
14301 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
14302 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
14305 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
14308 The valid format specifier characters are:
14312 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
14313 included in this string.
14316 The name of the server.
14319 The port number of the server.
14322 The user name to use.
14325 The password to use.
14328 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14329 corresponding keywords.
14332 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14333 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14336 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14337 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14340 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
14341 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
14342 mail should be moved to.
14344 @item :authentication
14345 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
14346 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
14351 @vindex pop3-movemail
14352 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
14353 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
14354 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
14355 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
14356 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
14357 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
14358 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
14359 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
14360 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
14362 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14363 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
14364 name, and default fetcher:
14370 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
14373 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14374 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
14377 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
14380 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
14384 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
14385 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
14386 contains exactly one mail.
14392 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
14393 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
14396 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
14397 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
14399 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
14400 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
14401 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
14404 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
14405 from locking problems).
14409 Two example maildir mail sources:
14412 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
14413 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
14417 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
14422 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
14423 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
14424 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
14425 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
14426 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
14428 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
14429 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
14435 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
14436 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14439 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
14440 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14443 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
14447 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
14451 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
14452 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
14453 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
14454 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
14456 @item :authentication
14457 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
14458 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
14459 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
14460 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
14463 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
14464 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
14465 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
14471 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
14472 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
14473 specifier characters are:
14477 The name of the server.
14480 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
14483 The port number of the server.
14486 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14487 corresponding keywords.
14490 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
14491 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
14494 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
14495 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
14496 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
14497 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
14498 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
14499 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
14502 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
14503 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
14504 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
14505 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
14508 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
14509 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
14513 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
14516 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
14518 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
14522 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
14523 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
14524 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
14526 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
14527 required for url "4.0pre.46".
14529 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
14535 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
14536 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
14539 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
14543 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
14547 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
14548 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
14552 An example webmail source:
14555 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
14557 :password "secret")
14561 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
14562 @xref{Group Parameters}.
14567 @item Common Keywords
14568 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
14574 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
14575 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
14580 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
14585 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
14586 useful when you use local mail and news.
14591 @subsubsection Function Interface
14593 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
14594 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
14595 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
14596 consider the following mail-source setting:
14599 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
14600 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
14603 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
14604 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
14605 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
14606 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
14607 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
14609 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
14612 @node Mail Source Customization
14613 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
14615 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
14616 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
14620 @item mail-source-crash-box
14621 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
14622 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
14623 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
14626 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
14627 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
14628 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
14629 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
14630 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
14631 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
14632 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
14633 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
14634 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{2} in alpha Gnusae
14635 and @code{10} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
14637 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14638 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14639 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
14640 files. This variable only applies when
14641 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
14643 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
14644 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
14645 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
14647 @item mail-source-directory
14648 @vindex mail-source-directory
14649 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
14650 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
14651 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
14652 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
14654 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14655 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14656 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
14657 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
14658 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
14659 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
14662 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
14663 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
14664 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
14666 @item mail-source-movemail-program
14667 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
14668 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
14669 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
14674 @node Fetching Mail
14675 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
14677 @vindex mail-sources
14678 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
14679 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
14680 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
14682 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
14683 fetch mail by themselves.
14685 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
14686 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
14691 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14692 :password "secret")))
14695 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
14699 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
14700 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14703 :password "secret")))
14707 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
14708 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
14709 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
14710 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
14711 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
14712 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
14716 @node Mail Back End Variables
14717 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
14719 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
14723 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14724 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14725 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
14726 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
14728 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
14729 @item nnmail-split-hook
14730 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
14731 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
14732 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
14733 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
14734 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
14735 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
14736 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
14737 in the buffer will show up in any files.
14738 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
14741 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14742 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14743 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14744 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14745 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
14746 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
14747 starting to handle the new mail) and
14748 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
14749 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
14750 default file modes the new mail files get:
14753 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14754 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
14756 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14757 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
14760 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
14761 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
14762 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
14763 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
14764 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
14765 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
14766 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
14768 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
14769 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
14770 @findex delete-file
14771 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
14773 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14774 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14775 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
14776 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
14777 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
14779 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14780 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14781 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
14782 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
14783 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
14785 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
14786 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
14787 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
14792 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
14793 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
14794 @cindex mail splitting
14795 @cindex fancy mail splitting
14797 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
14798 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
14799 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
14800 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
14801 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
14802 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
14804 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
14807 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
14808 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
14809 ;; @r{from real errors.}
14810 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
14812 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
14813 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
14814 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
14815 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
14816 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
14817 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
14818 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
14819 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
14820 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
14821 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
14822 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
14823 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
14824 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
14825 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
14826 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
14827 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
14828 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
14832 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
14833 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
14834 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
14839 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
14840 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
14842 @c Don't fold this line.
14843 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
14844 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
14845 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
14846 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
14849 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
14850 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
14851 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
14852 @var{split} is processed.
14854 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
14855 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
14856 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
14857 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
14859 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
14860 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
14861 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
14862 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
14863 stored in one or more groups.
14865 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
14866 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
14867 process all @var{split}s in the list.
14870 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
14871 this message. Use with extreme caution.
14873 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
14874 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
14875 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
14876 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
14879 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
14880 body of the messages:
14883 (defun split-on-body ()
14887 (goto-char (point-min))
14888 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
14892 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
14893 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
14894 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
14895 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
14896 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
14897 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
14898 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14900 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14901 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14902 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14903 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14904 should return a split.
14907 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14911 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14913 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
14914 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
14915 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
14916 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
14920 (any "joe" "joemail")
14924 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
14925 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
14926 of the following three ways:
14930 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14931 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
14932 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
14933 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
14934 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
14937 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
14940 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
14941 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
14942 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
14943 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
14944 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
14947 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
14948 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
14949 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
14950 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
14951 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
14952 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
14953 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
14956 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14957 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14958 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14959 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14960 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14961 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14962 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14966 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14968 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14969 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14971 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14974 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14975 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14976 when all this splitting is performed.
14978 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14979 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14980 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14983 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14986 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14987 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14989 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14990 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14991 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14992 groupings 1 through 9.
14994 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
14995 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
14996 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
14997 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
14998 groups when users send to an address using different case
14999 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15002 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15003 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15004 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15005 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15006 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15007 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15008 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15009 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15010 it once per thread.
15012 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15013 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15014 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15015 using the colon feature, like so:
15017 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15018 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15020 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15021 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15025 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15026 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15027 in the file specified by the variable
15028 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15029 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15030 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15031 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15032 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15033 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15034 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15035 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15036 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15037 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15038 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15039 300 kBytes in size.)
15040 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15041 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15042 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15043 messages goes into the new group.
15045 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15046 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15047 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15048 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15049 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15050 ``outgoing'' group.
15053 @node Group Mail Splitting
15054 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15055 @cindex mail splitting
15056 @cindex group mail splitting
15058 @findex gnus-group-split
15059 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15060 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15061 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15062 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15063 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15064 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15065 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15066 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15068 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15069 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15070 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15071 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15073 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15074 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15075 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15076 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15077 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15078 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15079 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15081 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15082 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15083 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15084 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15085 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15086 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15087 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15089 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15090 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15091 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15092 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15093 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15094 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15095 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15096 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15097 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15098 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15099 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15100 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15101 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15103 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15108 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15109 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15111 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15112 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15113 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15114 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15116 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15119 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15120 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15121 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15124 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15125 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15126 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15130 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15131 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15132 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15136 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15139 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15140 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15141 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15142 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15143 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15144 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15145 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15146 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15147 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15149 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15150 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15151 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15152 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15153 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15154 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15155 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15156 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15157 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15159 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15160 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15161 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15162 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15163 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15164 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15167 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15170 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15171 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15172 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15173 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15174 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15177 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15178 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15179 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15180 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
15182 @node Incorporating Old Mail
15183 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
15184 @cindex incorporating old mail
15185 @cindex import old mail
15187 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
15188 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
15189 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
15192 Doing so can be quite easy.
15194 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
15195 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
15196 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
15197 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
15198 your @code{nnml} groups.
15204 Go to the group buffer.
15207 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
15208 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15211 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
15214 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
15215 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15218 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
15219 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
15222 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
15223 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
15224 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
15225 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
15226 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
15228 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
15229 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
15230 using the new mail back end.
15233 @node Expiring Mail
15234 @subsection Expiring Mail
15235 @cindex article expiry
15236 @cindex expiring mail
15238 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
15239 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
15240 different approach to mail reading.
15242 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
15243 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
15244 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
15245 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
15246 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
15247 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
15250 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
15251 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
15252 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
15253 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
15254 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
15255 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
15256 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
15257 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
15258 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
15260 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
15261 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
15262 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
15263 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
15264 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
15265 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
15266 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
15269 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
15270 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
15271 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
15272 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
15273 into its own group.)
15275 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
15276 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
15277 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
15278 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
15279 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
15280 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
15281 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
15282 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
15285 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15286 Groups that match the regular expression
15287 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
15288 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
15289 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
15291 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
15292 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
15293 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
15294 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
15295 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15297 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
15299 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
15300 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
15301 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
15304 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
15305 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
15306 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
15307 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
15308 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
15310 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
15311 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
15314 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15315 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
15318 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
15319 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
15321 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
15322 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
15323 don't really mix very well.
15325 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
15326 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
15327 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
15328 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
15331 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
15332 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
15333 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
15334 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
15337 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15339 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15341 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
15343 ((string= group "mail.junk")
15345 ((string= group "important")
15351 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
15352 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
15354 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
15355 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
15356 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
15359 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
15360 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15362 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
15363 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
15364 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
15365 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
15366 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
15367 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
15368 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
15369 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
15370 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
15371 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
15372 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
15373 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
15374 name or @code{delete}.
15376 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
15378 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
15381 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15382 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15383 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
15384 expire mail to groups according to the variable
15385 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
15388 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15389 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15390 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
15391 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
15392 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
15395 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
15396 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
15397 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
15398 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
15399 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
15400 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
15402 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
15403 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
15404 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
15405 easier for procmail users.
15407 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
15408 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
15409 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
15410 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
15411 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
15412 caution. Even more dangerous is the
15413 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
15414 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
15415 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
15416 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
15417 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
15418 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
15419 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
15422 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
15424 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
15425 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
15426 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
15427 auto-expire turned on.
15431 @subsection Washing Mail
15432 @cindex mail washing
15433 @cindex list server brain damage
15434 @cindex incoming mail treatment
15436 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
15437 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
15438 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
15439 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
15440 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
15441 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
15443 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
15444 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
15445 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
15448 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
15449 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
15450 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
15451 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
15454 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15455 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15456 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
15457 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
15458 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
15461 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15462 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15463 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
15464 Emacs running on MS machines.
15468 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15469 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15470 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
15471 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
15474 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15475 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15476 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
15477 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
15479 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
15480 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
15481 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
15482 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
15483 into a feature by documenting it.)
15485 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
15486 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
15487 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
15488 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
15489 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
15490 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
15491 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
15494 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
15495 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
15498 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
15499 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
15502 This can also be done non-destructively with
15503 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
15505 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
15506 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
15507 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
15509 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
15510 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
15511 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
15514 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
15515 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
15516 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
15517 contain a line matching the regular expression
15518 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
15522 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
15523 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
15524 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
15528 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
15529 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
15530 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
15537 @subsection Duplicates
15539 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
15540 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
15541 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
15542 @cindex duplicate mails
15543 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
15544 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
15545 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
15546 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
15547 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
15548 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
15549 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
15550 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
15551 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
15552 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
15553 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
15554 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
15555 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
15557 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
15558 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
15559 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
15560 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
15562 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
15565 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
15566 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
15570 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
15571 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
15572 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
15573 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
15574 (any mail "mail.misc")
15575 ;; @r{Other rules.}
15581 (setq nnmail-split-methods
15582 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
15583 ;; @r{Other rules.}
15587 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
15588 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
15589 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
15590 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
15591 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
15594 @node Not Reading Mail
15595 @subsection Not Reading Mail
15597 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
15598 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
15599 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
15601 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
15602 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
15603 mail, which should help.
15605 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15606 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
15607 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
15608 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15609 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15610 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
15611 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
15612 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
15613 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
15614 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
15615 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
15617 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
15618 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
15622 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
15623 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
15625 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
15626 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
15627 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
15629 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
15630 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
15631 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
15635 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
15636 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
15637 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
15638 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
15639 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
15640 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
15641 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
15645 @node Unix Mail Box
15646 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
15648 @cindex unix mail box
15650 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15651 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15652 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
15653 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
15654 which group it belongs in.
15656 Virtual server settings:
15659 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
15660 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15661 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
15664 @item nnmbox-active-file
15665 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15666 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
15667 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
15669 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
15670 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
15671 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
15672 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
15677 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
15681 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15682 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15683 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
15684 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
15685 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
15687 Virtual server settings:
15690 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
15691 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15692 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
15694 @item nnbabyl-active-file
15695 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15696 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
15697 @file{~/.rmail-active}
15699 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15700 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15701 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
15707 @subsubsection Mail Spool
15709 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
15711 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
15712 format. It should be used with some caution.
15714 @vindex nnml-directory
15715 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
15716 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
15717 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
15718 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
15720 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
15723 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
15724 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
15725 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
15726 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
15727 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
15728 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
15729 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
15730 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
15732 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
15733 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
15734 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
15735 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
15737 @cindex self contained nnml servers
15739 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
15740 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15741 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15742 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
15743 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
15744 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
15745 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
15746 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
15749 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
15750 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
15751 them next time it starts.
15753 Virtual server settings:
15756 @item nnml-directory
15757 @vindex nnml-directory
15758 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
15759 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
15762 @item nnml-active-file
15763 @vindex nnml-active-file
15764 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
15765 @file{~/Mail/active}.
15767 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
15768 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
15769 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15770 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
15772 @item nnml-get-new-mail
15773 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
15774 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
15777 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
15778 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
15779 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15780 default is @code{nil}.
15782 @item nnml-nov-file-name
15783 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
15784 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
15786 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15787 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15788 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
15790 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
15791 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
15792 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15793 default is @code{nil}.
15795 @item nnml-marks-file-name
15796 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
15797 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
15799 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
15800 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
15801 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
15802 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
15803 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
15804 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
15805 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
15806 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
15807 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
15809 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15810 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15811 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
15812 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
15813 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
15817 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
15818 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
15819 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
15820 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
15821 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
15822 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
15823 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
15828 @subsubsection MH Spool
15830 @cindex mh-e mail spool
15832 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
15833 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
15834 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
15835 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
15838 Virtual server settings:
15841 @item nnmh-directory
15842 @vindex nnmh-directory
15843 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
15844 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15847 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
15848 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15849 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
15853 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
15854 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
15855 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
15856 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
15857 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
15858 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
15859 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
15864 @subsubsection Maildir
15868 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
15869 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
15870 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
15871 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
15872 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
15875 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
15876 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
15877 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
15878 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
15879 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
15880 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
15881 that appear as group in Gnus.
15883 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
15884 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
15885 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
15887 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
15888 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
15889 another, and you will keep your marks.
15891 Virtual server settings:
15895 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
15896 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
15897 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
15898 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
15899 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
15900 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
15901 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
15902 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
15903 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
15904 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
15906 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
15907 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
15908 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
15909 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
15910 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
15911 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
15912 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
15913 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
15914 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
15915 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
15918 @item target-prefix
15919 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
15920 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
15921 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
15924 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
15925 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
15926 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
15927 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
15928 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
15929 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
15930 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
15931 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
15932 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
15934 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
15935 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
15936 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
15937 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
15938 symlinks pointing to them will be).
15940 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
15941 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
15942 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
15943 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15944 @code{force} argument.
15946 @item directory-files
15947 This should be a function with the same interface as
15948 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15949 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15950 parameter is optional; the default is
15951 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15952 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15953 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15954 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15955 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15956 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15959 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15960 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15961 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15962 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15963 value is @code{nil}.
15965 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15966 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15967 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15968 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15969 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15972 @subsubsection Group parameters
15974 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15975 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15976 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15977 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15978 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15979 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15982 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15983 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15984 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15985 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15986 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15987 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15988 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15989 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15990 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15994 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15995 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15996 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15997 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15998 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
15999 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16000 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16001 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16002 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16003 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16004 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16005 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16006 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16009 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16011 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16013 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16014 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16015 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16016 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16017 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16018 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16019 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16020 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16021 article. So that form can refer to
16022 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16023 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16024 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16025 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16028 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16029 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16030 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16031 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16032 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16033 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16034 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16035 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16036 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16037 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16038 contain extra copies of the articles.
16040 @item directory-files
16041 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16042 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16043 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16044 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16046 @item distrust-Lines:
16047 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16048 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16049 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16052 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16053 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16054 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16055 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16056 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16057 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16060 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16061 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16062 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16063 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16064 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16065 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16066 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16068 @item nov-cache-size
16069 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16070 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16071 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16072 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16073 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16074 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16075 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16076 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16077 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16078 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16079 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16082 @subsubsection Article identification
16083 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16084 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16085 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16086 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16087 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16088 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16089 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16090 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16091 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16092 request the article in the summary buffer.
16094 @subsubsection NOV data
16095 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16096 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16097 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16098 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16099 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16100 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16101 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16102 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16103 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16104 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16105 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16107 @subsubsection Article marks
16108 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16109 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16110 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16111 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16112 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16113 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16114 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16115 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16117 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16118 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16119 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16120 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16121 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16122 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16123 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16124 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16125 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16129 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16131 @cindex mbox folders
16132 @cindex mail folders
16134 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16135 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16136 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16137 numbers and arrival dates.
16139 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
16141 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
16142 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16143 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16144 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
16145 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
16146 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
16147 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
16148 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
16149 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
16150 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
16152 Virtual server settings:
16155 @item nnfolder-directory
16156 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16157 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16158 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16159 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16161 @item nnfolder-active-file
16162 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16163 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16165 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16166 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16167 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16168 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16170 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16171 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16172 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16173 default is @code{t}
16175 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16176 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16177 @cindex backup files
16178 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16179 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16180 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
16181 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
16184 (defun turn-off-backup ()
16185 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
16187 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
16190 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16191 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16192 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
16193 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
16194 extract some information from it before removing it.
16196 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16197 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16198 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16199 default is @code{nil}.
16201 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16202 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16203 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
16205 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
16206 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
16207 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
16208 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16210 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
16211 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
16212 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16213 default is @code{nil}.
16215 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
16216 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
16217 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
16219 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
16220 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
16221 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
16222 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16227 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
16228 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
16229 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
16230 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
16231 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
16232 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
16235 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
16236 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
16238 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
16239 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
16240 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
16241 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
16242 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
16244 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
16245 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
16246 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
16247 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
16248 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
16249 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
16250 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
16251 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
16254 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
16255 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
16256 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
16257 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
16262 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
16263 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
16264 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
16265 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
16266 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
16267 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
16268 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
16269 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
16270 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
16271 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
16272 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
16273 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
16274 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
16279 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
16280 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
16281 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
16282 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
16283 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
16284 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
16285 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
16286 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
16287 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
16288 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
16289 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
16290 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
16291 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
16292 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
16294 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
16295 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
16300 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
16301 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
16302 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
16303 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
16304 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
16305 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
16306 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
16307 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
16308 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
16309 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
16310 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
16311 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
16312 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
16313 provided by the active file and overviews.
16315 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
16316 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
16317 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
16318 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
16319 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
16322 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
16323 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
16328 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
16329 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
16330 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
16331 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
16332 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
16333 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
16334 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
16338 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
16339 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
16340 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
16341 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
16342 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
16343 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
16344 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
16345 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
16346 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
16348 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
16349 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
16350 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
16351 friendly mail back end all over.
16355 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
16356 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
16359 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
16360 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
16361 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
16362 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
16363 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
16364 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
16365 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
16366 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
16369 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
16370 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
16371 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
16372 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
16373 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
16374 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
16375 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
16376 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
16377 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
16378 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
16379 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
16381 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
16382 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
16383 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
16384 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
16385 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
16388 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
16389 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
16390 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
16391 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
16392 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
16393 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
16394 removed in the future.
16396 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
16397 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
16398 on your file system.
16400 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
16401 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
16406 @node Browsing the Web
16407 @section Browsing the Web
16409 @cindex browsing the web
16413 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
16414 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
16415 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
16416 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
16417 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
16418 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
16419 even know what a news group is.
16421 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
16422 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
16423 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
16424 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
16425 you mad in the end.
16427 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
16430 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
16431 interfaces to these sources.
16435 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
16436 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
16437 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
16438 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
16439 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
16440 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
16443 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
16444 alternatives to work.
16446 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
16447 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
16448 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
16449 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
16450 though, you should be ok.
16452 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
16453 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
16454 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
16455 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
16456 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
16458 @node Archiving Mail
16459 @subsection Archiving Mail
16460 @cindex archiving mail
16461 @cindex backup of mail
16463 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
16464 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
16465 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
16466 marks is fairly simple.
16468 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
16469 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
16472 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
16473 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
16474 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
16475 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
16476 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
16477 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
16478 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
16479 before you restore the data.
16481 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
16482 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
16483 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
16484 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
16485 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
16486 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
16487 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
16488 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
16489 is unnecessary in that case.
16492 @subsection Web Searches
16497 @cindex Usenet searches
16498 @cindex searching the Usenet
16500 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
16501 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
16502 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
16503 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
16504 searches without having to use a browser.
16506 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
16507 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
16508 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
16509 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
16510 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
16512 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
16513 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
16514 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
16515 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
16516 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
16517 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
16518 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
16519 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
16520 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
16521 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
16524 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
16525 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
16526 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
16527 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
16528 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
16529 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
16531 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
16532 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
16533 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
16535 Virtual server variables:
16540 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
16541 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
16542 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
16545 @vindex nnweb-search
16546 The search string to feed to the search engine.
16548 @item nnweb-max-hits
16549 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
16550 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
16553 @item nnweb-type-definition
16554 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
16555 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
16556 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
16561 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
16565 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
16568 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
16571 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
16575 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
16582 @subsection Slashdot
16586 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
16587 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
16588 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
16590 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
16591 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16594 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16595 '((nnslashdot "")))
16598 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
16599 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
16600 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
16601 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
16602 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
16605 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
16606 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16608 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
16609 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
16610 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
16611 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
16612 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
16613 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
16614 @acronym{HTML} forms.
16616 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
16619 @item nnslashdot-threaded
16620 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
16621 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
16622 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
16623 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
16624 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
16625 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
16627 @item nnslashdot-login-name
16628 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
16629 The login name to use when posting.
16631 @item nnslashdot-password
16632 @vindex nnslashdot-password
16633 The password to use when posting.
16635 @item nnslashdot-directory
16636 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
16637 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
16638 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
16640 @item nnslashdot-active-url
16641 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
16642 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
16643 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
16644 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
16646 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
16647 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
16648 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
16650 @item nnslashdot-article-url
16651 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
16652 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
16653 article. The default is
16654 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
16656 @item nnslashdot-threshold
16657 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
16658 The score threshold. The default is -1.
16660 @item nnslashdot-group-number
16661 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
16662 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
16663 updated. The default is 0.
16670 @subsection Ultimate
16672 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
16674 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
16675 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
16676 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
16677 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16679 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
16680 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
16681 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
16682 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
16683 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
16684 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
16685 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
16687 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
16690 @item nnultimate-directory
16691 @vindex nnultimate-directory
16692 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
16693 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
16698 @subsection Web Archive
16700 @cindex Web Archive
16702 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
16703 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
16704 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
16705 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
16708 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
16709 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
16710 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
16711 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
16712 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
16713 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
16714 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
16715 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
16717 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
16720 @item nnwarchive-directory
16721 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
16722 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
16723 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
16725 @item nnwarchive-login
16726 @vindex nnwarchive-login
16727 The account name on the web server.
16729 @item nnwarchive-passwd
16730 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
16731 The password for your account on the web server.
16739 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
16740 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
16741 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
16742 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
16743 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
16745 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
16746 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16748 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
16749 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
16750 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
16753 @kindex G R (Group)
16754 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
16755 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
16756 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
16757 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
16759 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
16760 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
16761 subscribe to groups.
16763 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
16764 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
16765 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
16766 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
16767 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
16768 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
16769 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
16770 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
16772 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
16773 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
16774 and a @samp{text/html} part.
16777 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
16778 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
16781 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
16782 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
16786 @defun nnrss-opml-export
16787 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
16788 @acronym{OPML} format.
16791 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
16794 @item nnrss-directory
16795 @vindex nnrss-directory
16796 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
16797 @file{~/News/rss/}.
16799 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
16800 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
16801 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
16802 data files. The default is the value of
16803 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
16804 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
16806 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
16807 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
16808 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
16809 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
16810 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
16811 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
16812 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
16813 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
16815 @item nnrss-use-local
16816 @vindex nnrss-use-local
16817 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
16818 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
16819 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
16820 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
16821 download script using @command{wget}.
16823 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
16824 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
16825 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
16826 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
16827 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
16828 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
16829 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil} if you prefer to see
16830 @samp{text/html} parts.
16833 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
16834 the summary buffer.
16837 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
16838 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
16840 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
16842 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
16843 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
16846 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
16850 (require 'browse-url)
16852 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
16854 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
16857 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
16858 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
16861 (browse-url (cdr url))
16862 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
16863 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
16865 (eval-after-load "gnus"
16866 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
16867 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
16868 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
16871 Even if you have added @code{"text/html"} to the
16872 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
16873 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
16874 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
16875 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
16876 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
16877 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
16878 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
16879 @code{nnrss} groups:
16882 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
16883 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
16885 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
16886 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
16887 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
16889 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
16892 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
16896 @node Customizing W3
16897 @subsection Customizing W3
16903 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
16904 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
16905 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
16908 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
16909 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
16910 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
16913 (eval-after-load "w3"
16915 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
16916 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
16917 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
16918 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
16920 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
16923 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
16924 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
16931 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
16933 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
16934 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
16935 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
16936 specify the network address of the server.
16938 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
16939 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
16940 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
16941 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
16942 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
16943 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
16945 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
16946 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
16947 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
16948 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
16950 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
16951 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
16952 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
16953 usage explained in this section.
16955 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
16956 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
16957 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
16961 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16962 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
16963 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
16965 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16966 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
16967 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
16969 (nnimap-server-port 143)
16970 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16971 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
16972 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
16973 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
16974 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
16975 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
16976 (nnimap-stream network))
16977 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
16979 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
16980 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
16981 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
16984 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
16985 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
16986 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
16987 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
16989 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
16994 @item nnimap-address
16995 @vindex nnimap-address
16997 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
16998 server name if not specified.
17000 @item nnimap-server-port
17001 @vindex nnimap-server-port
17002 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
17004 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
17007 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17008 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
17011 @item nnimap-list-pattern
17012 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
17013 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
17014 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
17015 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
17016 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
17017 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
17019 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
17020 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
17021 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
17024 Example server specification:
17027 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17028 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
17029 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
17032 @item nnimap-stream
17033 @vindex nnimap-stream
17034 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
17035 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
17036 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
17037 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
17038 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
17040 Example server specification:
17043 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17044 (nnimap-stream ssl))
17047 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
17051 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
17052 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
17054 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
17056 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
17057 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
17060 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
17061 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
17063 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
17064 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
17066 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
17068 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
17071 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
17072 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
17073 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
17074 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
17075 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
17076 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
17077 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
17078 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
17079 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
17082 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
17083 needed. It is available from
17084 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
17086 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
17087 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
17088 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
17089 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
17090 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
17091 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
17092 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
17095 @vindex imap-ssl-program
17096 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
17097 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
17098 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
17099 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
17100 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
17101 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
17104 @vindex imap-shell-program
17105 @vindex imap-shell-host
17106 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the
17107 variable @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call. Make
17108 sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g., don't
17109 forget to redirect the error output to the void.
17111 @item nnimap-authenticator
17112 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
17114 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
17115 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
17117 Example server specification:
17120 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17121 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
17124 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
17128 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
17129 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
17131 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
17134 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
17135 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
17137 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
17139 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
17141 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
17144 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
17146 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
17147 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
17148 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
17149 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
17150 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
17151 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
17154 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
17155 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
17156 running in circles yet?
17158 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
17159 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
17162 The possible options are:
17167 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
17170 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
17171 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
17172 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
17173 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
17175 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
17180 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
17181 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
17183 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
17184 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
17185 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
17186 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
17187 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
17190 Probably the only reason for frobbing this would be if you're trying
17191 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
17194 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
17195 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
17196 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
17197 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
17200 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
17201 as ticked for other users.
17203 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
17205 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
17206 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
17208 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
17209 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
17210 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
17211 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
17213 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
17214 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
17215 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
17216 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
17218 However, if @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}
17219 is true, this variable has no effect since the search logic
17220 is reversed, as described below.
17222 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
17223 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
17225 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
17226 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
17227 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
17228 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
17231 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
17234 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
17235 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
17236 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
17237 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
17240 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
17241 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
17243 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
17244 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
17247 @item nnimap-nov-is-evil
17248 @vindex nnimap-nov-is-evil
17249 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
17250 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
17252 Never generate or use a local @acronym{NOV} database. Defaults to the
17253 value of @code{gnus-agent}.
17255 Using a @acronym{NOV} database usually makes header fetching much
17256 faster, but it uses the @code{UID SEARCH UID} command, which is very
17257 slow on some servers (notably some versions of Courier). Since the Gnus
17258 Agent caches the information in the @acronym{NOV} database without using
17259 the slow command, this variable defaults to true if the Agent is in use,
17260 and false otherwise.
17262 @item nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
17263 @vindex nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
17264 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
17265 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
17267 Avoid the @code{UID SEARCH UID @var{message numbers} NOT SINCE
17268 @var{date}} command, which is slow on some @acronym{IMAP} servers
17269 (notably, some versions of Courier). Instead, use @code{UID SEARCH SINCE
17270 @var{date}} and prune the list of expirable articles within Gnus.
17272 When Gnus expires your mail (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), it starts with a
17273 list of expirable articles and asks the IMAP server questions like ``Of
17274 these articles, which ones are older than a week?'' While this seems
17275 like a perfectly reasonable question, some IMAP servers take a long time
17276 to answer it, since they seemingly go looking into every old article to
17277 see if it is one of the expirable ones. Curiously, the question ``Of
17278 @emph{all} articles, which ones are newer than a week?'' seems to be
17279 much faster to answer, so setting this variable causes Gnus to ask this
17280 question and figure out the answer to the real question itself.
17282 This problem can really sneak up on you: when you first configure Gnus,
17283 everything works fine, but once you accumulate a couple thousand
17284 messages, you start cursing Gnus for being so slow. On the other hand,
17285 if you get a lot of email within a week, setting this variable will
17286 cause a lot of network traffic between Gnus and the IMAP server.
17288 @item nnimap-logout-timeout
17289 @vindex nnimap-logout-timeout
17291 There is a case where a connection to a @acronym{IMAP} server is unable
17292 to close, when connecting to the server via a certain kind of network,
17293 e.g. @acronym{VPN}. In that case, it will be observed that a connection
17294 between Emacs and the local network looks alive even if the server has
17295 closed a connection for some reason (typically, a timeout).
17296 Consequently, Emacs continues waiting for a response from the server for
17297 the @code{LOGOUT} command that Emacs sent, or hangs in other words. If
17298 you are in such a network, setting this variable to a number of seconds
17299 will be helpful. If it is set, a hung connection will be closed
17300 forcibly, after this number of seconds from the time Emacs sends the
17301 @code{LOGOUT} command. It should not be too small value but too large
17302 value will be inconvenient too. Perhaps the value 1.0 will be a good
17303 candidate but it might be worth trying some other values.
17305 Example server specification:
17308 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17309 (nnimap-logout-timeout 1.0))
17315 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
17316 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
17317 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
17318 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
17319 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
17320 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
17325 @node Splitting in IMAP
17326 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
17327 @cindex splitting imap mail
17329 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
17330 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
17331 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
17332 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
17333 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
17337 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
17338 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
17339 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
17341 Here are the variables of interest:
17345 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
17346 @cindex splitting, crosspost
17348 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
17350 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
17351 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
17352 found will be used.
17354 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
17356 @item nnimap-split-inbox
17357 @cindex splitting, inbox
17359 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
17361 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
17362 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
17363 splitting is disabled!
17366 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
17367 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
17370 No nnmail equivalent.
17372 @item nnimap-split-rule
17373 @cindex splitting, rules
17374 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
17376 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
17379 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
17380 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
17381 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
17382 Neither did I, we need examples.
17385 (setq nnimap-split-rule
17387 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
17388 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
17389 ("INBOX.private" "")))
17392 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
17393 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
17394 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
17396 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
17397 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
17401 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
17404 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
17405 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
17407 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
17408 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
17409 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
17410 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
17412 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
17413 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
17414 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
17415 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
17416 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
17417 them every time you fetch new mail.)
17419 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
17420 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
17421 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
17423 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
17424 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
17425 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
17427 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
17429 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
17430 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
17431 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
17434 (setq nnimap-split-rule
17435 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
17436 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
17437 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
17438 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
17439 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
17442 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
17443 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
17444 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
17445 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
17446 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
17447 group/function elements.
17449 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17451 @item nnimap-split-predicate
17453 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
17455 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
17456 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
17458 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
17459 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
17460 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
17463 @item nnimap-split-fancy
17464 @cindex splitting, fancy
17465 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
17466 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
17468 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
17469 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
17470 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
17472 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
17473 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
17474 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
17475 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
17480 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
17481 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
17484 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
17486 @item nnimap-split-download-body
17487 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
17488 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
17490 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
17491 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
17492 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
17493 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
17497 @node Expiring in IMAP
17498 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
17499 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
17501 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
17502 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
17503 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
17504 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
17505 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
17506 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
17509 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
17510 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
17511 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
17512 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
17513 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
17514 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
17515 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
17516 messages. Most do, fortunately.
17518 If expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail seems very slow, try setting the server
17519 variable @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}.
17523 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
17524 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
17526 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
17527 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
17529 @item nnmail-expiry-target
17531 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
17532 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
17533 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
17534 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
17538 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
17539 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
17540 @cindex editing imap acls
17541 @cindex Access Control Lists
17542 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
17543 @kindex G l (Group)
17544 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
17546 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
17547 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
17548 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
17551 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
17552 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
17553 editing window with detailed instructions.
17555 Some possible uses:
17559 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
17560 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
17561 follow the list without subscribing to it.
17563 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
17564 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
17565 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
17569 @node Expunging mailboxes
17570 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
17574 @cindex manual expunging
17575 @kindex G x (Group)
17576 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
17578 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
17579 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
17580 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
17582 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
17585 @node A note on namespaces
17586 @subsection A note on namespaces
17587 @cindex IMAP namespace
17590 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
17591 by the following text in the RFC2060:
17594 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
17596 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
17597 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
17598 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
17599 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
17601 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
17602 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
17603 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
17604 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
17605 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
17606 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
17609 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
17610 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
17611 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
17613 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
17614 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
17615 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
17616 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
17617 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
17618 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
17619 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
17620 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
17623 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
17624 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
17625 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
17627 @node Debugging IMAP
17628 @subsection Debugging IMAP
17629 @cindex IMAP debugging
17630 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
17632 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
17633 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
17634 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
17635 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
17637 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
17638 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
17639 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
17640 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
17641 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
17642 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
17643 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
17647 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
17648 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
17655 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
17656 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
17657 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
17658 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
17661 @node Other Sources
17662 @section Other Sources
17664 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17665 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17669 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17670 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17671 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17672 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
17673 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17677 @node Directory Groups
17678 @subsection Directory Groups
17680 @cindex directory groups
17682 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17683 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17686 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17687 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17688 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17689 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17691 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17692 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17693 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17694 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17695 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17697 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17699 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17700 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17701 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17702 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17705 @node Anything Groups
17706 @subsection Anything Groups
17709 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17710 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17711 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17714 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17715 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17716 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17717 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17718 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17719 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17720 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17721 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
17722 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17723 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17726 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17727 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17728 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17729 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17731 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17732 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17733 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17734 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17736 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17737 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17738 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17739 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17740 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17741 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17742 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17743 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17748 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17749 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17750 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17751 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17753 @item nneething-exclude-files
17754 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17755 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17756 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17758 @item nneething-include-files
17759 @vindex nneething-include-files
17760 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17761 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17763 @item nneething-map-file
17764 @vindex nneething-map-file
17765 Name of the map files.
17769 @node Document Groups
17770 @subsection Document Groups
17772 @cindex documentation group
17775 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17776 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17782 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
17787 The standard Unix mbox file.
17789 @cindex MMDF mail box
17791 The MMDF mail box format.
17794 Several news articles appended into a file.
17796 @cindex rnews batch files
17798 The rnews batch transport format.
17801 Netscape mail boxes.
17804 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17806 @item standard-digest
17807 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17810 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17812 @item lanl-gov-announce
17813 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17815 @cindex forwarded messages
17816 @item rfc822-forward
17817 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17820 The Outlook mail box.
17823 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17826 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17829 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17832 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17838 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17841 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17847 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17848 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17849 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17852 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17853 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17854 group. And that's it.
17856 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17857 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17858 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17859 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17860 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17861 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17862 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17863 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17864 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17865 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17867 Virtual server variables:
17870 @item nndoc-article-type
17871 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17872 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17873 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17874 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17875 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17876 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17878 @item nndoc-post-type
17879 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17880 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17881 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17886 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17890 @node Document Server Internals
17891 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17893 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17894 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17895 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17896 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17898 First, here's an example document type definition:
17902 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17903 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17906 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17907 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17908 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17909 types can be defined with very few settings:
17912 @item first-article
17913 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17914 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17917 @item article-begin
17918 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17919 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17920 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17921 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17923 @item article-begin-function
17924 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17925 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17928 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17929 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17930 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17932 @item head-begin-function
17933 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17934 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17937 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17938 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17941 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17942 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17943 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17945 @item body-begin-function
17946 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17947 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17950 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17951 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17952 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17954 @item body-end-function
17955 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17956 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17959 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17960 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17963 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17964 regexp will be totally ignored.
17968 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17969 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17970 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17971 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17972 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17975 @item prepare-body-function
17976 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17977 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17978 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17980 @item article-transform-function
17981 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17982 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17983 body of the article.
17985 @item generate-head-function
17986 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17987 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17988 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17989 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17991 @item generate-article-function
17992 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17993 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17994 parameter when requesting all articles.
17996 @item dissection-function
17997 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17998 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17999 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18000 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18001 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18002 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18006 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18011 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18012 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18013 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18014 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18015 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18016 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18017 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18018 (subtype digest guess))
18021 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18022 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18023 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18024 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18025 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18027 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18028 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18029 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18030 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18031 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18032 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18033 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18034 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18035 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18036 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18037 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18038 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18046 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
18047 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
18048 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
18050 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
18051 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
18052 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
18055 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
18056 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
18057 that interested in doing things properly.
18059 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
18060 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
18063 First some terminology:
18068 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
18069 get news and/or mail from.
18072 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
18073 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
18076 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
18080 @item message packets
18081 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
18082 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
18083 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18085 @item response packets
18086 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
18087 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
18088 default, where @var{x} is a number.
18098 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
18099 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
18100 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
18101 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
18104 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
18107 You put the packet in your home directory.
18110 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
18111 the native or secondary server.
18114 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
18115 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
18118 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
18122 You transfer this packet to the server.
18125 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
18128 You then repeat until you die.
18132 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
18133 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
18136 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
18137 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
18138 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
18142 @node SOUP Commands
18143 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
18145 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
18149 @kindex G s b (Group)
18150 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
18151 Pack all unread articles in the current group
18152 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
18153 process/prefix convention.
18156 @kindex G s w (Group)
18157 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
18158 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
18161 @kindex G s s (Group)
18162 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
18163 Send all replies from the replies packet
18164 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
18167 @kindex G s p (Group)
18168 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
18169 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
18172 @kindex G s r (Group)
18173 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
18174 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
18177 @kindex O s (Summary)
18178 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
18179 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
18180 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
18181 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18186 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
18191 @item gnus-soup-directory
18192 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
18193 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
18194 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
18196 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
18197 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
18198 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
18199 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
18201 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
18202 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
18203 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
18204 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
18206 @item gnus-soup-packer
18207 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
18208 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
18209 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
18211 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
18212 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
18213 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
18214 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
18216 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
18217 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
18218 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
18220 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
18221 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
18222 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
18223 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
18229 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
18232 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
18233 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
18234 you can read them at leisure.
18236 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
18240 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
18241 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
18242 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
18243 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
18245 @item nnsoup-directory
18246 @vindex nnsoup-directory
18247 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
18248 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
18250 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
18251 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
18252 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
18253 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
18255 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
18256 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
18257 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
18258 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
18259 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
18261 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
18262 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
18263 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
18264 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
18266 @item nnsoup-active-file
18267 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
18268 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
18269 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
18270 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
18271 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
18273 @item nnsoup-packer
18274 @vindex nnsoup-packer
18275 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
18276 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
18278 @item nnsoup-unpacker
18279 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
18280 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
18281 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
18283 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
18284 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
18285 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
18288 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
18289 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
18290 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
18293 @item nnsoup-always-save
18294 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
18295 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
18301 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
18303 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
18304 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
18305 more for that to happen.
18307 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
18308 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
18309 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
18312 In specific, this is what it does:
18315 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
18316 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
18319 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
18320 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
18321 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
18324 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
18325 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
18326 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
18329 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
18330 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
18331 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
18333 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
18339 @item nngateway-address
18340 @vindex nngateway-address
18341 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
18343 @item nngateway-header-transformation
18344 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
18345 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
18346 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
18347 transformation should be called, and defaults to
18348 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
18349 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
18352 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
18353 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
18354 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
18357 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
18360 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
18363 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
18366 The following pre-defined functions exist:
18368 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18371 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18372 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18373 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
18375 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18377 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18378 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18379 @code{nngateway-address}.
18387 (setq gnus-post-method
18389 "mail2news@@replay.com"
18390 (nngateway-header-transformation
18391 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
18394 So, to use this, simply say something like:
18397 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
18402 @node Combined Groups
18403 @section Combined Groups
18405 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
18409 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
18410 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
18414 @node Virtual Groups
18415 @subsection Virtual Groups
18417 @cindex virtual groups
18418 @cindex merging groups
18420 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
18423 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
18424 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
18425 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
18427 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
18428 regexp to match component groups.
18430 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
18431 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
18432 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
18433 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
18434 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
18435 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
18436 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
18437 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
18439 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
18440 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
18443 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
18446 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
18447 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
18449 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
18450 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
18451 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
18452 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
18455 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
18458 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
18459 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
18460 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
18462 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
18463 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
18464 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
18465 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
18466 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
18468 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
18469 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
18470 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
18472 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
18473 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
18474 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
18475 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
18476 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
18477 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
18478 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
18479 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
18480 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
18481 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
18482 it---it'll have much the same effect.
18484 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
18485 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
18486 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
18487 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
18488 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
18489 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
18490 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
18492 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
18493 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
18495 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
18496 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
18500 @node Kibozed Groups
18501 @subsection Kibozed Groups
18505 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
18506 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
18507 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
18508 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
18510 @kindex G k (Group)
18511 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
18514 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
18515 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
18516 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
18517 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
18519 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
18520 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
18521 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
18523 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
18524 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
18525 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
18526 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
18527 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
18528 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
18529 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
18530 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
18532 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
18533 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
18534 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
18535 Stranger things have happened.
18537 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
18538 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
18540 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
18541 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
18542 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
18543 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
18544 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
18545 information on what groups have been searched through to find
18546 component articles.
18548 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
18549 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
18552 @node Email Based Diary
18553 @section Email Based Diary
18555 @cindex email based diary
18558 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
18559 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
18560 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
18561 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
18562 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
18563 namely, as event reminders.
18565 Here is a typical scenario:
18569 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
18570 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
18572 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
18574 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
18576 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
18577 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
18578 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
18580 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
18581 of the night you're gonna have.
18583 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
18584 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
18587 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
18588 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
18589 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
18590 explained in the sections below.
18593 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
18594 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
18595 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
18599 @node The NNDiary Back End
18600 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
18602 @cindex the nndiary back end
18604 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
18605 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
18606 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
18607 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
18608 directory per group.
18610 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
18611 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
18612 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
18613 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
18616 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
18617 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
18618 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
18621 @node Diary Messages
18622 @subsubsection Diary Messages
18623 @cindex nndiary messages
18624 @cindex nndiary mails
18626 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
18627 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
18628 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
18629 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
18630 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
18631 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
18632 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
18636 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
18637 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
18638 (separated by a comma).
18640 A field is either an integer, or a range.
18642 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
18644 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
18645 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
18646 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
18648 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
18649 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
18650 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
18652 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
18653 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
18654 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
18655 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
18656 list of available time zone values, see the variable
18657 @code{nndiary-headers}.
18660 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
18661 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
18662 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
18667 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
18670 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
18672 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
18675 @node Running NNDiary
18676 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
18677 @cindex running nndiary
18678 @cindex nndiary operation modes
18680 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
18681 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
18682 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
18683 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
18684 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
18685 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
18687 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
18688 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
18689 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
18690 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
18691 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
18692 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
18693 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
18696 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
18701 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
18702 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
18705 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
18708 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
18709 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
18710 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
18711 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
18712 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
18714 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
18715 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
18724 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
18725 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
18727 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
18728 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18729 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
18730 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
18733 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
18734 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18735 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
18738 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
18739 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
18740 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
18742 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
18743 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
18744 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
18745 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
18746 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
18748 @node Customizing NNDiary
18749 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
18750 @cindex customizing nndiary
18751 @cindex nndiary customization
18753 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
18754 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
18755 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
18756 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
18758 @defvar nndiary-reminders
18759 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
18760 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
18761 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
18762 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
18766 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
18767 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
18772 @node The Gnus Diary Library
18773 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
18775 @cindex the gnus diary library
18777 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
18778 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
18779 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
18780 useful things for you.
18782 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
18785 (require 'gnus-diary)
18788 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18789 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18790 (sorry if you used them before).
18794 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18795 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18796 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18797 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18800 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18801 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18802 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18803 @cindex diary summary line format
18805 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18806 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18807 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18808 see the event's date.
18810 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18811 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18812 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18813 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
18814 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18816 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18817 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18818 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18821 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18824 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18825 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18828 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18831 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18832 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18833 with the following user options:
18835 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18836 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18837 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18838 diary groups'parameters.
18841 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18842 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18843 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18846 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18847 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18848 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18849 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18850 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18853 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18854 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18855 @cindex diary articles sorting
18856 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18857 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18859 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18861 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18862 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18863 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18864 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18865 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18867 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18868 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18869 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18870 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18873 @node Diary Headers Generation
18874 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18875 @cindex diary headers generation
18876 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18878 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18879 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18880 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18881 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18884 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18885 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18886 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c D c} in @code{message-mode}
18887 and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the process of converting
18888 a usual mail to a diary one.
18890 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18891 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18892 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18895 @node Diary Group Parameters
18896 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18897 @cindex diary group parameters
18899 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18900 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18901 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18902 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18903 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18904 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18905 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18906 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18908 @node Sending or Not Sending
18909 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18911 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18912 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18916 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18917 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18918 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18919 sending the diary message to them as well.
18921 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18922 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18923 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18924 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18927 @node Gnus Unplugged
18928 @section Gnus Unplugged
18933 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18935 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18936 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18937 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18938 read news. Believe it or not.
18940 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18941 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18942 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18943 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18944 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18946 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18947 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18948 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18949 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18950 reading news on a machine.
18952 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18953 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18954 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18956 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18959 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18960 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18961 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18962 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18963 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18964 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18965 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18966 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18967 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18968 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18969 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18970 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18971 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18972 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18977 @subsection Agent Basics
18979 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18981 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18982 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18983 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18984 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18986 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18987 connected to the net continuously.
18989 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18990 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18992 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18993 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18994 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18995 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18996 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18998 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18999 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
19000 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
19001 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
19002 they're kinda like plugged always).
19004 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
19005 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
19006 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
19009 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
19010 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
19011 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
19012 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
19013 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
19015 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
19020 @findex gnus-unplugged
19021 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
19022 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
19023 already fetched while in this mode.
19026 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
19027 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
19028 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
19029 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
19030 Source Specifiers}).
19033 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
19034 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
19035 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
19036 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
19037 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
19040 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
19041 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
19042 then you read the news offline.
19045 And then you go to step 2.
19048 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
19054 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
19055 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
19056 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
19057 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
19058 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
19059 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
19060 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
19061 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
19064 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
19065 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
19066 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
19067 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
19069 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
19070 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
19071 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
19072 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
19073 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
19074 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
19078 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
19082 @node Agent Categories
19083 @subsection Agent Categories
19085 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
19086 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
19087 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
19088 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
19089 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
19090 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
19091 you're interested in the articles anyway.
19093 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
19094 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
19095 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
19096 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
19097 buffer for creating and managing categories.
19099 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
19100 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
19101 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
19102 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
19103 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
19106 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
19107 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
19108 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
19109 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
19110 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
19111 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
19115 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
19116 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
19117 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
19121 @node Category Syntax
19122 @subsubsection Category Syntax
19124 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
19125 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
19126 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
19129 @cindex Agent Parameters
19132 The list of groups that are in this category.
19134 @item agent-predicate
19135 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
19136 are eligible for downloading; and
19139 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
19140 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
19141 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
19143 @item agent-enable-expiration
19144 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
19145 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
19146 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
19147 only groups that should not be expired.
19149 @item agent-days-until-old
19150 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
19151 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
19153 @item agent-low-score
19154 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
19156 @item agent-high-score
19157 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
19159 @item agent-short-article
19160 an integer that overrides the value of
19161 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19163 @item agent-long-article
19164 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19166 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19167 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19168 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19169 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19170 undownloaded faces.
19173 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
19176 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
19177 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
19178 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
19181 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
19182 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
19183 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
19184 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
19186 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
19187 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
19188 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
19190 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
19191 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
19192 operators sprinkled in between.
19194 Perhaps some examples are in order.
19196 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
19197 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
19203 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
19204 short (for some value of ``short'').
19206 Here's a more complex predicate:
19215 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
19216 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
19219 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
19220 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
19221 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
19223 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
19224 you want to do, you can write your own.
19226 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
19227 bound to the value determined by calling
19228 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
19229 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
19230 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
19231 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
19232 predicate to individual groups.
19236 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
19237 lines; default 100.
19240 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
19241 lines; default 200.
19244 True if the article has a download score less than
19245 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
19248 True if the article has a download score greater than
19249 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
19252 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
19253 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
19254 checksum and sees whether articles match.
19263 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
19264 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
19265 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
19268 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
19269 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
19270 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
19271 something along the lines of the following:
19274 (defun my-article-old-p ()
19275 "Say whether an article is old."
19276 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
19277 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
19280 with the predicate then defined as:
19283 (not my-article-old-p)
19286 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
19287 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
19291 (require 'gnus-agent)
19292 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
19293 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
19294 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
19297 and simply specify your predicate as:
19303 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
19304 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
19305 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
19306 just don't give a damn.
19308 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
19309 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
19310 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
19311 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
19312 parameters like so:
19315 (agent-predicate . short)
19318 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
19319 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
19320 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
19322 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
19325 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
19328 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
19329 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
19330 predicate is assumed to be a list.
19333 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
19334 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
19335 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
19336 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
19337 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
19338 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
19340 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
19341 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
19342 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
19343 if it's to be specific to that group.
19345 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
19352 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
19353 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
19359 Category specification
19363 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19369 Group/Topic Parameter specification
19372 (agent-score ("from"
19373 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19378 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
19384 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
19385 keywords stated above.
19391 Category specification
19394 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
19400 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
19404 Group Parameter specification
19407 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
19410 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
19415 Use @code{normal} score files
19417 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
19418 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
19419 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
19420 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
19422 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
19423 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
19424 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
19425 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
19429 Category Specification
19436 Group Parameter specification
19439 (agent-score . file)
19444 @node Category Buffer
19445 @subsubsection Category Buffer
19447 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
19448 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
19449 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
19451 The following commands are available in this buffer:
19455 @kindex q (Category)
19456 @findex gnus-category-exit
19457 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
19460 @kindex e (Category)
19461 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
19462 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
19463 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
19466 @kindex k (Category)
19467 @findex gnus-category-kill
19468 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
19471 @kindex c (Category)
19472 @findex gnus-category-copy
19473 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
19476 @kindex a (Category)
19477 @findex gnus-category-add
19478 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
19481 @kindex p (Category)
19482 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
19483 Edit the predicate of the current category
19484 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
19487 @kindex g (Category)
19488 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
19489 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
19490 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
19493 @kindex s (Category)
19494 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
19495 Edit the download score rule of the current category
19496 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
19499 @kindex l (Category)
19500 @findex gnus-category-list
19501 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
19505 @node Category Variables
19506 @subsubsection Category Variables
19509 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
19510 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
19511 Hook run in category buffers.
19513 @item gnus-category-line-format
19514 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
19515 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
19516 Variables}). Valid elements are:
19520 The name of the category.
19523 The number of groups in the category.
19526 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
19527 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
19528 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
19530 @item gnus-agent-short-article
19531 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
19532 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
19534 @item gnus-agent-long-article
19535 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
19536 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
19538 @item gnus-agent-low-score
19539 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
19540 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
19543 @item gnus-agent-high-score
19544 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
19545 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
19548 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
19549 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19550 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
19551 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
19552 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
19553 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
19554 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
19555 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
19559 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
19560 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
19561 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
19562 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
19563 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
19564 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
19565 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
19570 @node Agent Commands
19571 @subsection Agent Commands
19572 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
19573 @kindex J j (Agent)
19575 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
19576 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
19577 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
19581 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
19582 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
19583 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
19589 @node Group Agent Commands
19590 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
19594 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
19595 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
19596 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
19597 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
19600 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
19601 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
19602 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
19605 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
19606 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
19607 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
19608 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
19611 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
19612 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
19613 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
19614 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
19617 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
19618 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
19619 Add the current group to an Agent category
19620 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
19621 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19624 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
19625 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
19626 Remove the current group from its category, if any
19627 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
19628 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19631 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
19632 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19633 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
19639 @node Summary Agent Commands
19640 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
19644 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
19645 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
19646 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
19649 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
19650 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
19651 Remove the downloading mark from the article
19652 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
19656 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
19657 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
19658 Toggle whether to download the article
19659 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
19663 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
19664 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
19665 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
19668 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
19669 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
19670 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
19671 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
19674 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
19675 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
19676 Download all processable articles in this group.
19677 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
19680 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
19681 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
19682 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
19683 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
19688 @node Server Agent Commands
19689 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
19693 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
19694 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
19695 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
19696 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
19699 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
19700 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
19701 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
19702 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
19707 @node Agent Visuals
19708 @subsection Agent Visuals
19710 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
19711 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
19712 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
19713 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
19714 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
19715 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
19716 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
19717 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
19718 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
19719 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
19721 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
19722 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
19723 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
19724 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
19725 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
19726 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
19727 the download status of each article so that you always know which
19728 articles will be available when unplugged.
19730 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
19731 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
19732 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
19733 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
19734 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
19735 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
19736 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
19737 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
19739 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
19740 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
19741 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
19742 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
19743 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
19744 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
19745 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
19746 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
19747 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
19749 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
19750 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
19751 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
19752 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
19753 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
19754 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
19755 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
19756 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
19757 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
19758 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
19760 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
19761 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
19762 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
19763 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
19764 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
19765 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19767 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
19768 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
19769 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
19770 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
19771 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
19772 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
19773 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
19774 expiring'' articles.
19776 @node Agent as Cache
19777 @subsection Agent as Cache
19779 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
19780 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
19781 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
19782 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
19783 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
19784 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
19785 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
19786 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19787 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19789 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19790 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19791 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19792 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19793 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19796 @subsection Agent Expiry
19798 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19799 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19800 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19801 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19802 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19803 @cindex agent expiry
19804 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19805 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
19807 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19808 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19809 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19810 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19811 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19812 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19813 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19814 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19816 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
19817 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
19818 synchronized with the group.
19820 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19821 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19823 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19824 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19825 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19826 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19827 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19828 be kept indefinitely.
19830 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19831 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19832 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19833 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19835 @node Agent Regeneration
19836 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19838 @cindex agent regeneration
19839 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19840 @cindex regeneration
19842 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19843 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19844 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19845 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19846 internal inconsistencies.
19848 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19849 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19850 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19851 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19852 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19853 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19855 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19856 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19857 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19858 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19859 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19860 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19862 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19863 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19864 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19865 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19866 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19867 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19870 @node Agent and flags
19871 @subsection Agent and flags
19873 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19874 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
19875 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19876 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19877 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19878 to the flags in its own files.
19880 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19881 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19882 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19884 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19885 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19886 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19887 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19888 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19889 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19891 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19892 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19893 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19894 in the group buffer.
19896 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19897 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19898 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19899 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19900 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19901 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19902 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19903 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19905 @node Agent and IMAP
19906 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19908 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19909 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19910 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19911 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19913 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19914 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19919 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19922 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19926 @node Outgoing Messages
19927 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19929 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19930 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19931 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19933 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19934 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19935 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19937 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19938 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19939 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19940 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19943 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19944 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19945 ask you to confirm your action (see
19946 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19948 @node Agent Variables
19949 @subsection Agent Variables
19954 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19955 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19956 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19957 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19959 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19960 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19963 @item gnus-agent-directory
19964 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19965 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19966 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19968 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19969 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19970 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19971 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19972 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19975 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19976 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19977 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19979 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19980 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19981 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19983 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19984 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19985 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19987 @item gnus-agent-cache
19988 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19989 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19990 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19991 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19993 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19994 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19995 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19996 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19997 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19998 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19999 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
20002 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20003 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20004 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
20005 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
20006 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
20007 read. The default is @code{t}.
20009 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20010 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20011 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20012 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20013 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20014 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20015 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20017 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20018 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20019 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
20020 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
20021 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
20022 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
20023 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
20024 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
20025 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
20026 over and over again.
20028 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20029 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20030 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
20031 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
20032 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
20033 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
20034 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
20035 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
20036 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
20037 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
20038 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
20039 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
20042 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
20043 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
20044 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
20045 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
20046 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
20047 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
20048 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
20049 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
20050 is only valid if the Agent is used.
20052 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20053 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20054 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
20055 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
20056 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
20057 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
20059 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
20060 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
20061 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
20062 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
20063 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
20065 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
20066 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
20067 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
20068 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
20069 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
20070 mail. The default is @code{t}.
20072 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20073 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20074 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
20075 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
20076 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
20078 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20079 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20080 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
20081 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
20082 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
20083 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
20084 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
20085 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
20086 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
20087 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
20088 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
20093 @node Example Setup
20094 @subsection Example Setup
20096 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
20097 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
20098 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
20101 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
20102 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
20103 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
20105 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
20106 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
20107 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
20109 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
20110 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
20112 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
20113 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
20114 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
20117 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
20118 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
20121 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
20122 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
20123 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
20124 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
20125 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
20128 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
20129 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
20130 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
20131 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
20132 back all the killed groups.)
20134 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
20135 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
20136 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
20139 @node Batching Agents
20140 @subsection Batching Agents
20141 @findex gnus-agent-batch
20143 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
20144 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
20145 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
20147 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
20148 following incantation:
20152 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
20156 @node Agent Caveats
20157 @subsection Agent Caveats
20159 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20160 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20164 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20166 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20167 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20168 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20170 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20171 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20173 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
20177 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
20178 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
20179 locally stored articles.
20186 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
20187 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
20188 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
20191 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
20192 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
20193 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
20194 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
20195 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
20197 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
20198 before generating the summary buffer.
20200 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
20201 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
20202 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
20204 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
20205 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
20206 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
20207 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
20210 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
20211 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
20212 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
20213 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
20214 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
20215 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
20216 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
20217 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
20218 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
20219 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
20220 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
20221 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
20222 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
20223 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
20224 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
20225 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
20229 @node Summary Score Commands
20230 @section Summary Score Commands
20231 @cindex score commands
20233 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
20234 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
20235 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
20236 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
20237 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
20239 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
20240 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
20241 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
20242 score file the current one.
20244 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
20249 @kindex V s (Summary)
20250 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
20251 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
20254 @kindex V S (Summary)
20255 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
20256 Display the score of the current article
20257 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
20260 @kindex V t (Summary)
20261 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
20262 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
20263 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
20264 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
20265 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
20266 score file and edit it.
20269 @kindex V w (Summary)
20270 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
20271 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
20274 @kindex V R (Summary)
20275 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
20276 Run the current summary through the scoring process
20277 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
20278 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
20279 effect you're having.
20282 @kindex V c (Summary)
20283 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
20284 Make a different score file the current
20285 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
20288 @kindex V e (Summary)
20289 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
20290 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
20291 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
20295 @kindex V f (Summary)
20296 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
20297 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
20298 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
20301 @kindex V F (Summary)
20302 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20303 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
20304 after editing score files.
20307 @kindex V C (Summary)
20308 @findex gnus-score-customize
20309 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
20310 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
20314 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
20319 @kindex V m (Summary)
20320 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
20321 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
20322 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
20325 @kindex V x (Summary)
20326 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
20327 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
20328 expunge all articles below this score
20329 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
20332 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
20333 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
20336 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
20337 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
20341 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
20342 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
20344 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
20345 keys are available:
20349 Score on the author name.
20352 Score on the subject line.
20355 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
20358 Score on the @code{References} line.
20364 Score on the number of lines.
20367 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
20370 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
20371 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
20374 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
20375 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
20376 @file{ADAPT} files.)
20385 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
20391 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
20392 what headers you are scoring on.
20404 Substring matching.
20407 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
20436 Greater than number.
20441 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
20442 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
20443 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
20448 Temporary score entry.
20451 Permanent score entry.
20454 Immediately scoring.
20458 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
20459 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
20460 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
20464 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
20465 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
20466 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
20467 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
20469 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
20470 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
20471 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
20472 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
20473 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
20475 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
20476 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
20477 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
20478 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
20479 current score file.
20481 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
20482 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
20483 pretend they are keymaps or not.
20486 @node Group Score Commands
20487 @section Group Score Commands
20488 @cindex group score commands
20490 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
20495 @kindex W e (Group)
20496 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
20497 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
20498 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
20501 @kindex W f (Group)
20502 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20503 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
20504 all the time. This command will flush the cache
20505 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
20509 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
20511 @findex gnus-batch-score
20512 @cindex batch scoring
20514 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
20518 @node Score Variables
20519 @section Score Variables
20520 @cindex score variables
20524 @item gnus-use-scoring
20525 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
20526 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
20527 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
20529 @item gnus-kill-killed
20530 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
20531 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
20532 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
20533 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
20534 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
20535 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
20536 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
20538 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
20539 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
20540 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
20541 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
20542 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
20544 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
20545 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
20546 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
20547 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
20549 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
20550 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
20551 @cindex score cache
20552 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
20553 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
20554 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
20555 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
20556 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
20557 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
20558 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
20561 @item gnus-save-score
20562 @vindex gnus-save-score
20563 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
20564 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
20565 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20567 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
20568 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
20569 across group visits.
20571 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
20572 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
20573 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
20574 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
20575 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
20576 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
20577 manually entered data.
20579 @item gnus-summary-default-score
20580 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
20581 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
20583 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
20584 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
20585 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
20586 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
20587 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
20588 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
20590 @item gnus-score-over-mark
20591 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
20592 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
20593 default. Default is @samp{+}.
20595 @item gnus-score-below-mark
20596 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
20597 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
20598 default. Default is @samp{-}.
20600 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
20601 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
20602 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
20603 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
20605 Predefined functions available are:
20608 @item gnus-score-find-single
20609 @findex gnus-score-find-single
20610 Only apply the group's own score file.
20612 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
20613 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
20614 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
20615 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
20616 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
20617 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
20618 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
20619 then a regexp match is done.
20621 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
20622 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
20624 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
20625 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
20626 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
20627 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
20629 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
20630 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
20631 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
20632 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
20633 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
20637 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
20638 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
20639 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
20640 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
20641 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
20642 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
20643 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
20646 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
20647 overall score file, you could use the value
20649 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
20650 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
20653 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
20654 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
20655 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
20656 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
20657 are expired. It's 7 by default.
20659 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
20660 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
20661 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
20662 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
20663 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
20664 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
20665 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
20666 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
20668 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
20669 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
20670 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
20672 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
20673 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
20674 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
20675 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
20676 threading---according to the current value of
20677 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
20678 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
20679 simplified in this manner.
20684 @node Score File Format
20685 @section Score File Format
20686 @cindex score file format
20688 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
20689 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
20690 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
20692 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
20696 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
20698 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
20700 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
20702 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
20707 (mark-and-expunge -10)
20711 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
20712 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
20713 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
20714 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
20718 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
20719 Scoring}, for a different approach.
20721 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
20722 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
20723 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
20725 Six keys are supported by this alist:
20730 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
20731 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
20732 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
20733 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
20734 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
20735 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
20736 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
20737 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
20738 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
20739 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
20740 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
20741 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
20742 to articles that matches these score entries.
20744 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
20745 score entry has one to four elements.
20749 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
20750 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
20754 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
20755 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
20756 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
20757 is successful. If this element is not present, the
20758 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
20759 instead. This is 1000 by default.
20762 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
20763 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
20764 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
20765 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
20766 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
20769 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
20770 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
20771 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
20772 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
20775 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
20776 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
20777 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
20778 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
20779 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
20780 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
20781 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
20782 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
20783 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
20784 instead, if you feel like.
20787 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20788 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20789 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20790 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20791 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20792 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20796 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20797 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20801 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20802 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20804 These predicates are true if
20807 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20810 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20811 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20818 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20819 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20820 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20821 it's not. I think.)
20823 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20824 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20825 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20826 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20829 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20830 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20831 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20832 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20833 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20834 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20835 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20839 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20840 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20841 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20842 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20843 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20844 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20845 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20846 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20849 @item Head, Body, All
20850 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
20854 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20855 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20856 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20857 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20858 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20859 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20860 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20864 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20865 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20866 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20867 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20868 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20869 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20870 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20871 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20872 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20873 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20874 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20878 @cindex score file atoms
20880 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20881 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20884 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20885 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20887 @item mark-and-expunge
20888 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20889 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20892 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20893 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20894 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20895 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20896 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20899 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20900 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20903 @item exclude-files
20904 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20905 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20909 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
20910 ignored when handling global score files.
20913 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20914 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20915 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20916 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20919 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20920 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20921 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20922 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20924 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20928 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20931 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20932 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20933 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
20934 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20935 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20937 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20938 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20939 scoring rules exist.
20942 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20943 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20944 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20945 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20946 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20947 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20948 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20949 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20950 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20951 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20952 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20956 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20957 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20958 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20959 file for a number of groups.
20962 @cindex local variables
20963 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20964 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20965 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20966 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20967 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20972 @node Score File Editing
20973 @section Score File Editing
20975 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20976 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20977 with a mode for that.
20979 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20980 additional commands:
20985 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20986 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20987 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20988 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20991 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20992 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20993 Insert the current date in numerical format
20994 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20995 you were wondering.
20998 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20999 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
21000 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
21001 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
21002 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
21007 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
21009 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
21010 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
21012 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
21013 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
21016 @node Adaptive Scoring
21017 @section Adaptive Scoring
21018 @cindex adaptive scoring
21020 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
21021 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
21022 stupidity, to be precise.
21024 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
21025 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
21026 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
21027 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
21028 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21029 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
21030 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
21031 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
21032 variable to @code{(word line)}.
21034 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21035 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
21036 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
21037 might look something like this:
21040 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21041 '((gnus-unread-mark)
21042 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
21043 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
21044 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
21045 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
21046 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
21047 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
21048 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
21049 (gnus-ancient-mark)
21050 (gnus-low-score-mark)
21051 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
21054 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
21055 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
21056 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
21057 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
21058 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
21059 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
21062 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
21063 will be applied to each article.
21065 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
21066 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
21067 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
21068 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
21070 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
21071 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
21072 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
21073 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
21075 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
21076 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
21077 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
21078 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
21080 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
21081 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
21082 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
21083 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
21084 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
21085 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
21087 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
21088 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
21089 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
21091 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
21092 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
21093 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
21095 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
21096 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
21097 let you use different rules in different groups.
21099 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
21100 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
21101 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
21104 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
21105 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
21106 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
21107 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
21109 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
21110 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
21111 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
21112 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
21113 the length of the match is less than
21114 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
21115 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
21118 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21119 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
21120 headers. If you adapt on words, the
21121 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
21122 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
21125 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21126 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
21127 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
21128 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
21129 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
21132 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
21133 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
21134 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
21135 score with 30 points.
21137 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
21138 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
21139 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
21140 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
21141 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
21143 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
21144 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
21145 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
21146 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
21147 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
21149 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
21150 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
21151 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
21152 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
21154 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
21155 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
21156 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
21157 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
21159 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21160 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21161 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21162 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21163 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21165 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21166 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21167 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21169 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21170 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21171 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21172 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21175 @node Home Score File
21176 @section Home Score File
21178 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
21179 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
21180 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
21181 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
21183 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
21184 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
21185 could perhaps use the same home score file.
21187 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
21188 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
21193 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
21197 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
21198 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
21202 A list. The elements in this list can be:
21206 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
21207 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
21210 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
21211 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
21212 name of the group as the parameter.
21215 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
21218 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
21223 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
21226 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21227 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
21230 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
21231 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
21233 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
21235 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21236 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
21239 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
21240 Other functions include
21243 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
21244 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
21245 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
21246 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
21250 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
21251 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
21252 their own home score files:
21255 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21256 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
21257 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
21258 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
21259 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
21262 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
21263 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
21264 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
21265 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
21266 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
21268 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
21269 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
21270 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
21271 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
21272 precedence over this variable.
21275 @node Followups To Yourself
21276 @section Followups To Yourself
21278 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
21279 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
21280 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
21281 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
21282 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
21283 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
21287 @item gnus-score-followup-article
21288 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
21289 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
21292 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
21293 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
21294 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
21298 @vindex message-sent-hook
21299 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
21300 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
21302 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
21306 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
21307 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
21311 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21312 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21315 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
21316 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
21321 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
21325 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
21326 is system-dependent.
21329 @node Scoring On Other Headers
21330 @section Scoring On Other Headers
21331 @cindex scoring on other headers
21333 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
21334 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
21335 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
21336 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
21337 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
21339 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
21340 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
21341 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
21342 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
21343 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
21345 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21348 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
21349 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
21352 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
21353 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
21354 time if you have much mail.
21356 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
21357 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
21361 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
21362 You can inhibit scoring the slow scoring on headers or body by setting
21363 the variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
21364 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
21365 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
21366 inhibited for all groups.
21370 @section Scoring Tips
21371 @cindex scoring tips
21377 @cindex scoring crossposts
21378 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
21379 the @code{Xref} header.
21381 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
21384 @item Multiple crossposts
21385 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
21386 more than, say, 3 groups:
21389 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
21393 @item Matching on the body
21394 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
21395 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
21396 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
21397 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
21398 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
21399 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
21400 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
21403 @item Marking as read
21404 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
21405 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
21406 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
21410 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
21412 @item Negated character classes
21413 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
21414 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
21415 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
21419 @node Reverse Scoring
21420 @section Reverse Scoring
21421 @cindex reverse scoring
21423 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
21424 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
21425 like this in your score file:
21429 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
21434 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
21435 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
21438 @node Global Score Files
21439 @section Global Score Files
21440 @cindex global score files
21442 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
21443 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
21444 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
21446 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
21447 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
21448 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
21450 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
21451 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
21452 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
21453 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
21454 files are applicable to which group.
21456 To use the score file
21457 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
21458 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
21462 (setq gnus-global-score-files
21463 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
21464 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
21467 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
21469 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
21470 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
21471 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
21472 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
21474 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
21475 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
21477 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
21478 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
21479 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
21480 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
21481 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
21482 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
21484 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
21490 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
21492 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
21494 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
21496 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
21497 lowered out of existence.
21499 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
21500 articles completely.
21503 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
21504 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
21505 old articles for a long time.
21508 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
21509 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
21510 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
21511 holding our breath yet?
21515 @section Kill Files
21518 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
21519 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
21520 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
21522 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
21523 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
21524 files into score files.
21526 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
21527 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
21528 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
21529 that isn't a very good idea.
21531 Normal kill files look like this:
21534 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21535 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
21539 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
21540 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
21542 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
21543 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
21546 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
21551 @kindex M-k (Summary)
21552 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
21553 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
21556 @kindex M-K (Summary)
21557 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
21558 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
21561 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
21566 @kindex M-k (Group)
21567 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
21568 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
21571 @kindex M-K (Group)
21572 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
21573 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
21576 Kill file variables:
21579 @item gnus-kill-file-name
21580 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
21581 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
21582 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
21583 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
21584 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
21585 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
21587 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
21588 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
21589 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
21590 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
21593 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
21594 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
21595 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
21596 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
21597 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
21598 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
21599 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
21600 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
21601 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
21603 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
21604 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
21605 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
21610 @node Converting Kill Files
21611 @section Converting Kill Files
21613 @cindex converting kill files
21615 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
21616 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
21617 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
21620 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
21621 You can fetch it from
21622 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
21624 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
21625 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
21626 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
21630 @node Advanced Scoring
21631 @section Advanced Scoring
21633 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
21634 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
21635 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
21636 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
21637 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
21639 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
21643 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
21644 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
21645 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
21649 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
21650 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
21652 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
21653 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
21654 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
21655 non-@code{nil} value.
21657 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
21658 operator, and various match operators.
21665 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
21666 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
21667 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
21672 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
21673 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
21674 then this operator will return @code{false}.
21679 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
21680 logical negation of the value of its argument.
21684 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
21685 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
21686 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
21687 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
21688 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
21689 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
21690 the ancestry you want to go.
21692 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
21693 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
21694 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
21695 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
21696 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
21699 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
21700 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
21702 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
21703 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
21706 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
21707 when he's talking about Gnus:
21712 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21713 ("subject" "Gnus"))
21720 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
21724 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21731 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
21732 really don't want to read what he's written:
21736 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21737 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
21741 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
21742 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
21743 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
21750 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
21751 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
21752 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
21753 ("body" "white.*socks"))
21757 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
21758 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
21759 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
21760 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
21763 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21765 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21769 The possibilities are endless.
21771 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
21772 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
21774 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
21775 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
21776 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
21777 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
21778 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
21779 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
21780 @samp{subject}) first.
21782 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
21783 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21794 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21795 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21801 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21808 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21809 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21814 @section Score Decays
21815 @cindex score decays
21818 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21819 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21820 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21821 use them in any sensible way.
21823 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21824 @findex gnus-decay-score
21825 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21826 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21827 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21828 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21829 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21830 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21831 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21832 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21833 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21834 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21838 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21839 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21840 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21842 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21844 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21846 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21847 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21848 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
21849 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21850 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21852 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21856 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21857 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21858 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21859 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21863 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21866 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21869 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21873 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21874 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21875 the new score, which should be an integer.
21877 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21878 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21883 @include message.texi
21884 @chapter Emacs MIME
21885 @include emacs-mime.texi
21887 @include sieve.texi
21899 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
21900 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
21901 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
21902 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
21903 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
21904 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
21905 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
21906 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
21907 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
21908 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
21909 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
21910 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
21911 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
21912 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
21913 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
21914 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
21915 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
21916 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
21917 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
21918 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
21919 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
21920 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
21924 @node Process/Prefix
21925 @section Process/Prefix
21926 @cindex process/prefix convention
21928 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
21929 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
21931 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
21932 command to be performed on.
21936 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
21937 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
21938 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
21939 with the current one.
21941 @vindex transient-mark-mode
21942 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
21943 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
21945 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
21946 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
21949 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
21950 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
21952 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
21955 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
21956 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
21957 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
21958 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21960 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
21961 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
21962 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
21963 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
21964 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
21965 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
21966 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
21967 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
21969 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
21970 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
21971 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
21972 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
21973 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
21977 @section Interactive
21978 @cindex interaction
21982 @item gnus-novice-user
21983 @vindex gnus-novice-user
21984 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
21985 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
21986 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
21987 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
21990 @item gnus-expert-user
21991 @vindex gnus-expert-user
21992 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
21993 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
21994 matter how strange.
21996 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
21997 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
21998 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
21999 is @code{t} by default.
22001 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22002 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22003 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22008 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22009 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22010 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22012 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22013 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22014 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22015 rule of 900 to the current article.
22017 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22018 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22019 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22020 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22021 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22022 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22023 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22025 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22026 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22027 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22028 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22029 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22030 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22031 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22032 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22033 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22035 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22036 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22037 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22039 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22043 @node Formatting Variables
22044 @section Formatting Variables
22045 @cindex formatting variables
22047 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22048 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22049 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22050 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22051 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22054 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22055 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22056 lots of percentages everywhere.
22059 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22060 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22061 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22062 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22063 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22064 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22065 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22066 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22069 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22070 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22071 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22072 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22073 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22074 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22075 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22076 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22078 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22079 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22081 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22082 @findex gnus-update-format
22083 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22084 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22085 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22086 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22090 @node Formatting Basics
22091 @subsection Formatting Basics
22093 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22094 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22095 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22097 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22098 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22099 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22100 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22101 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22104 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22105 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22106 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22107 less than 4 characters wide.
22109 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22110 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22113 @node Mode Line Formatting
22114 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22116 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22117 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22118 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22119 with the following two differences:
22124 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22127 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22128 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22129 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22130 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22131 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22132 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22133 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22138 @node Advanced Formatting
22139 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22141 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22142 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22143 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22144 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22146 These are the valid modifiers:
22151 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22155 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22160 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22163 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22168 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22171 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22174 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22177 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22183 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22188 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22189 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22190 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22191 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22192 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22193 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22194 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22196 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22197 last operation, padding.
22199 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
22200 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
22201 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
22202 @xref{Compilation}.
22205 @node User-Defined Specs
22206 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22208 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22209 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22210 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22211 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22212 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22213 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22214 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22215 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22216 should protect against that.
22218 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22219 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22221 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22222 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22223 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22224 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22228 @node Formatting Fonts
22229 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22231 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22232 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22233 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22234 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22237 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22238 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22239 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22240 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22241 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22242 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22244 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22245 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22246 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22247 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22248 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22249 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22250 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22251 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22252 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22253 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22254 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22257 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22260 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22261 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22262 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22264 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22265 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22266 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22267 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22268 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22269 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22270 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22272 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22273 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22274 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22277 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22278 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22280 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22281 mode-line variables.
22283 @node Positioning Point
22284 @subsection Positioning Point
22286 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22287 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22288 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22290 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22292 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22293 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22294 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22296 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22297 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22298 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22303 @subsection Tabulation
22305 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22306 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22307 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22308 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22310 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22311 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22313 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22314 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22315 This is the soft tabulator.
22317 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22318 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22319 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22322 @node Wide Characters
22323 @subsection Wide Characters
22325 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22326 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22327 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22329 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22330 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22331 these countries, that's not true.
22333 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22334 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22335 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22336 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22340 @node Window Layout
22341 @section Window Layout
22342 @cindex window layout
22344 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22346 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22347 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22348 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22349 @code{t} by default.
22351 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22352 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22354 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22355 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22356 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22359 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
22360 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
22361 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22365 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22366 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22367 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22368 possible names is listed below.
22370 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22371 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
22374 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22378 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22379 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22380 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22381 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22382 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22383 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22384 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22385 size spec per split.
22387 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22388 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22389 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
22390 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22391 present) gets focus.
22393 Here's a more complicated example:
22396 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22397 (summary 0.25 point)
22398 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
22402 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22403 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22404 occupy, not a percentage.
22406 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22407 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22408 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22409 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
22410 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
22413 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22416 (article (horizontal 1.0
22421 (summary 0.25 point)
22426 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22427 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22429 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22430 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22431 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22432 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22433 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22435 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22436 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22437 lines from the splits.
22439 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22444 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22445 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22446 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22447 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22448 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22449 size = number | frame-params
22450 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22454 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22455 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22456 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22457 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22459 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22460 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22461 @cindex window height
22462 @cindex window width
22463 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22464 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22465 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22466 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22467 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22468 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22470 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22471 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22472 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22473 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22475 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22476 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22477 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22478 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22479 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22480 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22481 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22482 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22483 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22484 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22485 configuration list.
22488 (gnus-configure-frame
22492 (article 0.3 point))
22500 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22501 @code{frame} split:
22504 (gnus-configure-frame
22507 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22509 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22510 (user-position . t)
22511 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22516 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22517 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22518 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22519 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22520 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22521 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22522 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22523 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22525 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22526 be found in its default value.
22528 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22529 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22530 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22534 (message (horizontal 1.0
22535 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22537 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22542 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22543 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22544 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22549 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22550 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22551 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22552 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22553 (name . "Message"))
22554 (message 1.0 point))))
22557 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22558 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22559 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22560 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22561 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22564 (gnus-add-configuration
22565 '(article (vertical 1.0
22567 (summary .25 point)
22571 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22572 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22573 Gnus has been loaded.
22575 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22576 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22577 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22578 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22579 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22581 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22582 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22583 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22586 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22590 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22591 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22606 (gnus-add-configuration
22609 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22611 (summary 0.16 point)
22614 (gnus-add-configuration
22617 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22618 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
22624 @node Faces and Fonts
22625 @section Faces and Fonts
22630 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
22631 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
22632 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
22637 @section Compilation
22638 @cindex compilation
22639 @cindex byte-compilation
22641 @findex gnus-compile
22643 Remember all those line format specification variables?
22644 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
22645 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
22646 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
22647 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
22648 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
22651 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
22652 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
22653 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
22654 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
22655 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
22656 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
22657 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
22661 @section Mode Lines
22664 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
22665 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
22666 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
22667 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
22668 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
22669 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
22670 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
22673 @cindex display-time
22675 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
22676 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
22677 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
22678 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
22679 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
22680 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
22681 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
22682 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
22685 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
22687 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
22688 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
22690 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
22691 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
22692 (length display-time-string)))))
22695 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
22696 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
22697 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
22698 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
22699 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
22702 @node Highlighting and Menus
22703 @section Highlighting and Menus
22705 @cindex highlighting
22708 @vindex gnus-visual
22709 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
22710 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
22711 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
22714 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
22715 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
22718 @item group-highlight
22719 Do highlights in the group buffer.
22720 @item summary-highlight
22721 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
22722 @item article-highlight
22723 Do highlights in the article buffer.
22725 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
22727 Create menus in the group buffer.
22729 Create menus in the summary buffers.
22731 Create menus in the article buffer.
22733 Create menus in the browse buffer.
22735 Create menus in the server buffer.
22737 Create menus in the score buffers.
22739 Create menus in all buffers.
22742 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
22743 buffers, you could say something like:
22746 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
22749 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
22752 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
22755 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
22756 in all Gnus buffers.
22758 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
22761 @item gnus-mouse-face
22762 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22763 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
22764 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
22768 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
22772 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
22773 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
22774 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
22776 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
22777 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
22778 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
22780 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
22781 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
22782 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
22784 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
22785 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
22786 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
22788 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
22789 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
22790 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
22792 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
22793 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
22794 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
22805 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
22806 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
22807 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
22808 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
22809 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
22813 @vindex gnus-carpal
22814 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
22815 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
22816 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
22821 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22822 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22823 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
22825 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
22826 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
22827 Face used on buttons.
22829 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
22830 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
22831 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
22833 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22834 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22835 Buttons in the group buffer.
22837 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22838 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22839 Buttons in the summary buffer.
22841 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22842 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22843 Buttons in the server buffer.
22845 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22846 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22847 Buttons in the browse buffer.
22850 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
22851 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
22852 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
22860 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
22861 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
22862 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
22863 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
22864 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
22866 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
22867 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
22868 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
22870 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
22871 been idle for thirty minutes:
22874 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
22877 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
22881 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
22884 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
22885 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
22886 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22888 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
22889 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
22890 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
22891 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22893 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
22894 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
22895 @var{idle} minutes.
22897 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
22898 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
22901 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
22902 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
22903 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
22905 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
22906 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
22907 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
22908 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
22910 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
22911 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22913 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
22915 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
22918 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
22919 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
22920 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
22921 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
22922 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
22923 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
22924 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
22925 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
22926 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
22927 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
22928 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
22930 @findex gnus-demon-init
22931 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
22932 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
22933 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
22934 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
22935 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
22937 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
22938 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
22939 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
22948 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
22949 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
22951 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
22952 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
22953 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
22954 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
22957 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
22958 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
22959 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
22960 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
22962 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
22963 this will make spam disappear.
22965 There are some variables to customize, of course:
22968 @item gnus-use-nocem
22969 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
22970 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
22973 You can also set this variable to a positive number as a group level.
22974 In that case, Gnus scans NoCeM messages when checking new news if this
22975 value is not exceeding a group level that you specify as the prefix
22976 argument to some commands, e.g. @code{gnus},
22977 @code{gnus-group-get-new-news}, etc. Otherwise, Gnus does not scan
22978 NoCeM messages if you specify a group level to those commands. For
22979 example, if you use 1 or 2 on the mail groups and the levels on the news
22980 groups remain the default, 3 is the best choice.
22982 @item gnus-nocem-groups
22983 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
22984 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
22987 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
22988 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
22991 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
22992 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
22993 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
22994 people you want to listen to. The default is
22996 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
22997 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
22999 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
23001 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
23002 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
23004 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
23005 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
23006 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
23007 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
23008 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
23009 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
23010 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
23011 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
23012 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
23013 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
23015 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
23016 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
23019 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
23022 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
23023 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
23026 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
23029 The specs are applied left-to-right.
23032 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
23033 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
23035 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
23036 says she is. The default is @code{pgg-verify}, which returns
23037 non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful, otherwise (including
23038 the case the NoCeM message was not signed) returns @code{nil}. If this
23039 is too slow and you don't care for verification (which may be dangerous),
23040 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
23042 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
23043 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
23044 @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if you are willing to add the
23045 @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
23047 @item gnus-nocem-directory
23048 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
23049 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
23050 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
23052 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23053 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23054 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
23055 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
23056 might then see old spam.
23058 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
23059 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
23060 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
23061 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
23062 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
23065 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23066 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23067 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
23068 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
23072 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
23073 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
23074 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
23075 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
23082 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23083 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23084 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23086 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23087 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23088 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23089 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23090 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23091 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23092 @code{undo} function.
23094 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23095 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23096 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23097 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23098 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23099 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23100 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23101 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23102 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23103 never be totally undoable.
23105 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23106 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23108 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23109 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23110 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23111 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23115 @node Predicate Specifiers
23116 @section Predicate Specifiers
23117 @cindex predicate specifiers
23119 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23120 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23121 to type all that much.
23123 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23128 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23129 gnus-article-unread-p)
23132 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23133 functions all take one parameter.
23135 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23136 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23137 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23138 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23143 @section Moderation
23146 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23147 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23148 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23151 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23155 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23158 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23160 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23165 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23166 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23167 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23170 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23171 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23174 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23175 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23179 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23182 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23183 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23187 @node Fetching a Group
23188 @section Fetching a Group
23189 @cindex fetching a group
23191 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23192 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23193 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23194 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23195 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23196 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23199 @node Image Enhancements
23200 @section Image Enhancements
23202 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23203 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23204 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23207 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23208 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23209 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23210 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23211 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23219 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23220 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23221 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23225 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23226 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23227 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23235 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23236 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23237 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23238 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23239 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23240 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23241 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23242 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23243 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23244 @code{display} program.
23246 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23247 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23248 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23249 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23250 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23251 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23252 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23253 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23255 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23256 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23257 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23258 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23259 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23260 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23262 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23270 @vindex gnus-x-face
23271 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23272 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23273 default colors are black and white.
23275 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23276 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23277 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23278 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23279 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23280 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23283 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23284 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23285 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23286 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23288 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23289 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23290 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23291 (png . (:relief -2))))
23294 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23295 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23296 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23297 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23298 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23299 @samp{libcompface} library.
23302 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23303 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23304 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23305 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23306 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23307 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23309 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23310 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23311 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23312 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23313 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23314 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23315 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23316 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23317 header data as a string.
23319 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23320 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23321 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23322 randomly generated data.
23324 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23325 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23326 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23327 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23328 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23330 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23331 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23334 (setq message-required-news-headers
23335 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23336 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23339 Using the last function would be something like this:
23342 (setq message-required-news-headers
23343 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23344 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23345 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23346 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23354 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23356 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23357 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23358 represent the author of the message.
23361 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23362 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23363 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23366 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23367 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23369 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23372 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23374 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23376 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23377 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23379 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23380 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23381 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23383 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23384 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23385 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23386 converts the file to Face format by using the
23387 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23389 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23390 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23393 (setq message-required-news-headers
23394 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23395 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23396 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23401 @subsection Smileys
23406 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23411 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23412 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23414 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23415 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23418 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23421 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23422 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23423 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23424 text and maps that to file names.
23426 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23427 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23428 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23429 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23430 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23433 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23438 @vindex smiley-style
23439 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23440 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23441 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23442 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23445 @item smiley-data-directory
23446 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23447 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23448 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23450 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23451 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23452 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23466 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23467 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23468 over your shoulder as you read news.
23470 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23479 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23480 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23481 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23482 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23483 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23484 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23485 @code{GIF} formats.
23488 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23489 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23490 point your Web browser at
23491 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23493 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23494 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23496 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23497 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23500 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23501 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23502 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23503 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23505 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23509 @item gnus-picon-databases
23510 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23511 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23512 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23513 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23514 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23516 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23517 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23518 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23519 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23521 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23522 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23523 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23524 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23526 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23527 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23528 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23529 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23530 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23532 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23533 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23534 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23535 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23541 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23544 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23545 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23546 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23547 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23548 unusual directory structure.
23550 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23551 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23552 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23557 @subsubsection Toolbar
23561 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23562 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23563 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23564 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23565 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23566 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23567 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23568 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23570 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23571 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23572 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23573 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23574 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23575 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23577 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23578 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23579 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23581 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23582 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23583 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23585 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23586 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23587 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23598 @node Fuzzy Matching
23599 @section Fuzzy Matching
23600 @cindex fuzzy matching
23602 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23603 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23605 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23606 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23607 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23609 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23610 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23611 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23612 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23613 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23616 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23617 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23621 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23623 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23624 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23625 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23626 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23627 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23628 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23629 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23630 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23633 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23634 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23635 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23636 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23637 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23638 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23640 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23643 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23644 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23645 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23646 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23649 @node The problem of spam
23650 @subsection The problem of spam
23652 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23653 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23655 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23657 First, some background on spam.
23659 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23660 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23661 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23662 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23663 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23664 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23665 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23666 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23667 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23669 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23670 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23671 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23672 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23673 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23674 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23675 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23676 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23677 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23680 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23681 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23682 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23683 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23684 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23685 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23686 from Bulgarian IPs.
23688 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23689 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23690 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
23691 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23693 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23694 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23695 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23696 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23698 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23699 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23700 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23701 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23702 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23703 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23704 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23705 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23706 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23708 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23709 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23710 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23711 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23712 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23713 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23714 down for some time because of the incident.
23716 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23717 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23718 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23719 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23720 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23721 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23722 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23723 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23724 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23725 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23726 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23728 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23729 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23730 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23731 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23732 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23733 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23734 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23737 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23738 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23742 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23744 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23745 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23747 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23748 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23749 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23750 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23751 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23752 part of the mail address.)
23755 (setq message-default-news-headers
23756 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23759 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23760 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23764 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23765 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23766 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23771 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23772 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23773 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23774 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23776 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23777 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23778 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23779 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23780 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23781 your fancy split rule in this way:
23786 (to "larsi" "misc")
23790 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
23791 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
23792 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
23793 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
23794 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
23796 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
23797 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
23798 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
23799 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
23801 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
23805 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
23806 @cindex SpamAssassin
23807 @cindex Vipul's Razor
23810 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
23811 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
23812 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
23813 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
23814 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
23815 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
23816 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
23818 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
23819 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
23820 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
23823 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
23824 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
23825 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
23826 Specifiers}) follow.
23830 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
23834 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
23837 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
23838 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
23839 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
23842 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
23846 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23849 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
23850 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
23854 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
23855 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
23856 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
23857 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
23860 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
23862 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
23866 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
23867 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
23871 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
23872 downloaded by default. You need to set
23873 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
23874 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
23876 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
23877 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
23878 spam. And here is the nifty function:
23881 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
23882 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
23884 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
23885 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
23886 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
23890 @subsection Hashcash
23893 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
23894 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
23895 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
23896 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
23897 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
23899 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
23900 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
23901 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
23902 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
23903 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
23904 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
23905 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
23906 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
23907 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
23908 one of them separately.
23911 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
23912 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
23913 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
23914 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
23915 need to install to use this feature, see
23916 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
23917 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
23919 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
23920 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
23921 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
23924 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
23927 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
23931 @item hashcash-default-payment
23932 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
23933 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
23934 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
23937 @item hashcash-payment-alist
23938 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
23939 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
23940 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
23941 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
23942 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
23943 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
23944 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
23945 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
23947 @item hashcash-path
23948 @vindex hashcash-path
23949 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
23950 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
23951 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
23952 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
23953 when you generate hashcash payments.
23957 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
23958 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
23959 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
23960 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
23961 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
23962 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
23963 Hashcash Payments}).
23966 @section Spam Package
23967 @cindex spam filtering
23970 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
23971 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
23972 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
23973 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
23976 * Spam Package Introduction::
23977 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
23978 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
23979 * Spam and Ham Processors::
23980 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
23982 * Extending the Spam package::
23983 * Spam Statistics Package::
23986 @node Spam Package Introduction
23987 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
23988 @cindex spam filtering
23989 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
23992 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
23993 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
23995 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
23996 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
23998 @cindex spam-initialize
23999 @vindex spam-use-stat
24000 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24001 @code{spam-initialize}:
24007 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24008 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24009 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24010 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24011 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24013 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24014 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24016 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24017 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24019 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24020 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24021 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24022 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24023 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24025 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24026 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24027 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24028 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24029 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24032 @cindex spam back ends
24033 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24034 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24035 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24036 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24037 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24039 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24040 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24042 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24043 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24044 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24045 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24046 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24047 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24048 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24050 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24051 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24052 point, the Spam package does several things:
24054 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24055 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24056 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24057 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24058 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24059 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24060 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24061 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24064 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24065 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24075 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24076 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24077 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24078 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24082 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24083 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24085 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24086 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24087 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24088 to be processed as ham by setting
24089 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24090 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24092 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24093 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24094 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24095 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24096 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24097 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24098 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24099 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24100 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24101 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24102 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24103 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24105 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24106 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24107 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24108 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24109 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24110 Configuration Examples}.
24112 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24113 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24114 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24115 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24117 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24118 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24120 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24121 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24122 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24124 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24125 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24126 @cindex spam filtering
24127 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24130 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24131 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24132 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24133 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24134 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24140 @vindex spam-split-group
24142 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24143 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24144 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24145 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24146 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24147 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24148 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24149 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24150 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24152 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24154 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24155 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24156 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24157 you should also set set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body}
24158 to @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can
24159 ``scan'' the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only
24160 retrieves the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells
24161 it to retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by
24162 default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24163 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Splitting
24166 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24167 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24168 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24169 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24170 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24171 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24172 ends, and the following split rule:
24175 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24176 (any "ding" "ding")
24178 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24183 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24184 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24185 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24186 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24187 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24188 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24190 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24191 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24192 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24193 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24198 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24199 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24200 (any "ding" "ding")
24201 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24203 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24208 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24209 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24210 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24211 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24212 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24213 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24214 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24216 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24217 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24218 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24219 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24221 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24222 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24225 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24226 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24228 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24229 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24230 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24231 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24233 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24234 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24235 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24236 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24238 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24239 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24240 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24242 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24243 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24244 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24245 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24246 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24247 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24248 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24250 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24251 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24252 @cindex spam filtering
24253 @cindex spam filtering variables
24254 @cindex spam variables
24257 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24258 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24259 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24260 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24261 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24262 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24263 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24265 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24266 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24267 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24268 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24270 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24271 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24272 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24273 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24274 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24275 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24276 by customizing the corresponding variable
24277 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24278 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24279 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24280 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24281 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24282 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24283 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24286 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24288 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24289 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24290 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24291 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24292 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24293 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24294 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24295 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24296 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24297 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24298 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24299 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24300 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24302 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24303 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24304 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24305 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24306 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24307 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24308 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24309 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24312 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24313 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24314 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24315 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24316 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24317 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24318 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24323 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24324 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24325 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24326 you really want to.
24329 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24330 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24331 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24332 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24333 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24334 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24337 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24338 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24339 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24340 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24341 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24342 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24343 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24344 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24345 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24346 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24347 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24348 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24349 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24350 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24351 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24353 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24354 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24356 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24357 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24358 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24360 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24361 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24363 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24364 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24365 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24366 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24367 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24369 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24370 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24371 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24372 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24373 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24376 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24377 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24378 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24379 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24380 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24381 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24382 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24383 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24384 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24385 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24386 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24387 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24388 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24390 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24391 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24393 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24394 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24397 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24398 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24399 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24400 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24401 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24402 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24403 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24405 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24406 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24407 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24408 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24410 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24411 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24412 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24413 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24414 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24415 from the mail server.
24417 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24418 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24419 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24420 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24422 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24423 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24424 @cindex spam filtering
24425 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24426 @cindex spam configuration examples
24429 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24431 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24433 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24434 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24435 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24439 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24441 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24442 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24443 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24444 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24445 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24446 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24447 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24448 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24449 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
24450 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24451 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24452 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24453 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24454 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24455 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24456 (any "ding" "ding")
24457 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24459 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24462 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24464 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24465 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24466 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24467 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24469 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24471 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24472 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24473 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24474 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24475 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24477 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24478 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24480 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24482 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24483 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24485 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24486 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24487 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24489 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24491 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24492 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24494 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24495 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24496 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24498 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24499 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24500 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24501 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24503 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24504 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24505 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24509 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24510 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24512 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24513 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24514 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24515 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24516 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24517 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24518 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24519 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24520 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24522 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24523 does most of the job for me:
24526 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24527 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24528 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24529 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24530 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24531 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24532 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24537 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24539 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24540 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24541 bogofilter or DCC).
24543 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24544 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24545 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24546 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24547 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24548 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24549 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24551 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24552 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24553 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
24554 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24555 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24556 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24558 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24560 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24561 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24562 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24563 @samp{training.spam}.
24566 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24568 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24570 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24571 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24572 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24576 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24579 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24580 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24581 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
24582 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24583 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24585 @node Spam Back Ends
24586 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24587 @cindex spam back ends
24589 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24590 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24591 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24592 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24596 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24597 * BBDB Whitelists::
24598 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24599 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24601 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24603 * SpamAssassin back end::
24604 * ifile spam filtering::
24605 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24609 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24610 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24611 @cindex spam filtering
24612 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24613 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24616 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24618 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24619 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24620 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24621 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24626 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24628 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24629 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24630 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24631 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24632 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24636 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24638 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24639 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24640 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24644 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24646 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24647 customizing the group parameters or the
24648 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24649 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24650 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24654 Instead of the obsolete
24655 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24656 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24657 the same way, we promise.
24661 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24663 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24664 customizing the group parameters or the
24665 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24666 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24667 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24672 Instead of the obsolete
24673 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24674 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24675 the same way, we promise.
24679 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24680 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24681 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24682 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24683 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24685 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24686 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24687 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24688 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24690 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24691 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24692 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24693 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24694 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24695 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24697 @node BBDB Whitelists
24698 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24699 @cindex spam filtering
24700 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24701 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24704 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24706 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24707 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24708 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24709 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24710 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24711 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24712 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24716 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24718 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24719 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24720 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
24721 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24722 classified as spammers.
24724 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24725 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24726 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24727 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24732 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24734 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24735 customizing the group parameters or the
24736 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24737 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24738 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24743 Instead of the obsolete
24744 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24745 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24746 the same way, we promise.
24750 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24751 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24752 @cindex spam reporting
24753 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24754 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24757 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24759 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24760 customizing the group parameters or the
24761 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24762 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24763 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24766 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24770 Instead of the obsolete
24771 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24772 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24773 same way, we promise.
24777 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24779 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24780 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24781 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24782 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24783 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
24787 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
24789 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
24790 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
24791 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
24795 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24796 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24797 @cindex spam filtering
24798 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
24801 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
24803 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24804 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
24805 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
24806 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
24807 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
24808 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24813 @subsubsection Blackholes
24814 @cindex spam filtering
24815 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
24818 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
24820 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
24821 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
24822 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
24823 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
24824 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
24825 contains outdated servers.
24827 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
24828 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
24829 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
24830 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
24831 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
24832 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
24836 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
24838 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
24842 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
24844 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
24845 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
24849 @defvar spam-use-dig
24851 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
24852 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
24856 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
24857 ham processor for blackholes.
24859 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
24860 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
24861 @cindex spam filtering
24862 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
24865 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
24867 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
24868 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
24869 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
24870 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
24871 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
24872 message is spam or ham, respectively.
24876 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
24878 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24879 the message, positively identify it as spam.
24883 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
24885 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24886 the message, positively identify it as ham.
24890 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
24891 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
24894 @subsubsection Bogofilter
24895 @cindex spam filtering
24896 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
24899 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
24901 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24904 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
24905 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
24906 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
24907 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
24908 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
24909 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
24911 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
24912 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
24915 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
24916 processing will be turned off.
24918 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
24927 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
24928 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
24931 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
24933 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24934 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
24935 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
24936 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
24937 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
24938 installation documents for details.
24940 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
24944 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
24945 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24946 customizing the group parameters or the
24947 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24948 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
24949 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
24953 Instead of the obsolete
24954 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24955 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24956 the same way, we promise.
24959 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
24960 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24961 customizing the group parameters or the
24962 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24963 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24964 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
24965 of non-spam messages.
24969 Instead of the obsolete
24970 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24971 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24972 the same way, we promise.
24975 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
24977 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
24978 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
24979 database directory.
24983 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
24984 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24985 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
24986 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
24987 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
24988 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
24990 @node SpamAssassin back end
24991 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
24992 @cindex spam filtering
24993 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
24996 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
24998 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25000 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25001 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25002 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25003 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25006 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25007 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25008 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25009 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25012 You should not enable this if you use
25013 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25017 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25019 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25020 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25022 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25026 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25028 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25029 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25030 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25031 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25035 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25036 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25037 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25038 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25039 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25040 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25041 to test this functionality.
25043 @node ifile spam filtering
25044 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25045 @cindex spam filtering
25046 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25049 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25051 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25052 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25056 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25058 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25059 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25060 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25064 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25066 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25067 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25068 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25071 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25073 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25074 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25078 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25079 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25080 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25081 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25084 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25085 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25086 @cindex spam filtering
25087 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25091 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25092 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25093 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25094 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25095 spam-stat dictionary}.
25097 @defvar spam-use-stat
25101 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25102 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25103 customizing the group parameters or the
25104 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25105 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25106 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25110 Instead of the obsolete
25111 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25112 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25113 the same way, we promise.
25116 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25117 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25118 customizing the group parameters or the
25119 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25120 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25121 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25122 of non-spam messages.
25126 Instead of the obsolete
25127 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25128 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25129 the same way, we promise.
25132 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25133 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25134 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25135 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25136 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25139 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25140 @cindex spam filtering
25144 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25145 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25146 installed separately.
25148 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25149 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25150 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25151 mail as a spam mail or not.
25153 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25154 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25155 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25157 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25160 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25161 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25162 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25163 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25164 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25165 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25166 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25167 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25170 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25171 spam-split-group "Junk"
25172 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25173 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25174 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25177 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25178 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25182 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25183 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25184 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25188 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25189 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25190 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25191 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25192 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25193 database to live somewhere special, set
25194 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25197 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25198 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25199 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25200 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25201 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25202 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25203 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25204 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25205 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25206 @xref{Spam Package}.
25208 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25209 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25210 customizing the group parameter or the
25211 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25212 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25213 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25217 Instead of the obsolete
25218 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25219 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25220 the same way, we promise.
25223 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25224 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25225 customizing the group parameter or the
25226 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25227 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25228 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25233 Instead of the obsolete
25234 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25235 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25236 the same way, we promise.
25239 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25240 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25243 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25244 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25245 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25247 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25248 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25249 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25250 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25251 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25252 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25254 @node Extending the Spam package
25255 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25256 @cindex spam filtering
25257 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25258 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25260 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25261 incoming mail, provide the following:
25269 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25270 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25273 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25275 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25276 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25277 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
25278 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25279 register/unregister spam and ham.
25284 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25285 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25286 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25287 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25292 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25299 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25300 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25302 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25303 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25304 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25305 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25308 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25309 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25310 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25312 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25313 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25314 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25323 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25324 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25326 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25327 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25328 variable customization.
25332 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25334 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25335 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25337 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25338 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25344 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25346 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25347 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25348 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25351 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25353 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25354 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25358 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25360 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25361 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25362 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25366 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25368 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25369 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25370 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25373 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25375 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25376 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25380 @code{spam-install-backend}
25382 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25383 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25384 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25387 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25389 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25390 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25391 never install such a back end.
25396 @node Spam Statistics Package
25397 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25398 @cindex Paul Graham
25399 @cindex Graham, Paul
25400 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25401 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25402 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25404 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25405 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25406 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25407 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25408 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25409 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25410 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25411 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25412 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25415 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25416 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25417 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25418 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25419 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25420 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25421 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25422 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25424 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25425 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25426 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25428 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25429 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25430 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25431 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25432 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25435 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25436 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25437 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25440 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25441 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25443 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25444 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25445 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25446 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25447 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25449 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25450 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25451 per mail. Use the following:
25453 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25454 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25455 is treated as one spam mail.
25458 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25459 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25460 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25463 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25464 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25465 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25466 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25467 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25468 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25470 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25471 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25472 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25473 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25474 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25477 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25478 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25479 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25480 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25483 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25484 reset the dictionary.
25486 @defun spam-stat-reset
25487 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25490 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25491 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25492 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25493 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25494 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25495 only non-spam mails.
25497 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25498 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25499 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25502 @defun spam-stat-save
25503 Save the dictionary.
25506 @defvar spam-stat-file
25507 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25508 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25511 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25512 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25514 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25515 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25517 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25520 (require 'spam-stat)
25524 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25527 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25528 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25529 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25530 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25532 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25533 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25534 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25535 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25538 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25539 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25543 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25544 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25547 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25548 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25549 expression are considered potential spam.
25552 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25553 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25554 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25558 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25559 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25560 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25561 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25562 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25565 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25566 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25567 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25571 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25572 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25573 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25574 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25575 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25579 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25580 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25581 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25582 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25587 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25588 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25590 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25592 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25593 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25594 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25597 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25598 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25599 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25602 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25603 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25604 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25605 already been processed as non-spam.
25608 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25609 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25610 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25611 been processed as spam.
25614 @defun spam-stat-save
25615 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25616 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25619 @defun spam-stat-load
25620 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25621 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25624 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25625 Return the spam score for a word.
25628 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25629 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25632 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25633 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25634 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25637 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25638 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25641 (require 'spam-stat)
25645 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25648 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25649 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25650 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25651 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25652 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25653 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25654 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25655 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25656 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25657 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25658 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25659 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25660 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25661 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25664 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25667 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25668 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25669 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25670 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25671 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25672 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25676 @section Interaction with other modes
25681 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
25682 buffers. It is enabled with
25684 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25689 @findex gnus-dired-attach
25690 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
25691 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
25692 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
25695 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
25696 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
25697 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
25701 @findex gnus-dired-print
25702 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
25703 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
25706 @node Various Various
25707 @section Various Various
25713 @item gnus-home-directory
25714 @vindex gnus-home-directory
25715 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
25716 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
25718 @item gnus-directory
25719 @vindex gnus-directory
25720 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
25721 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
25722 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
25724 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
25725 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
25726 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
25727 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
25729 @item gnus-default-directory
25730 @vindex gnus-default-directory
25731 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
25732 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
25733 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
25734 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
25735 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
25736 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
25739 @vindex gnus-verbose
25740 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
25741 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
25742 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
25743 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
25744 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
25746 @item gnus-verbose-backends
25747 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
25748 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
25749 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
25751 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
25752 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
25753 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
25754 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
25755 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
25756 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
25757 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
25758 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
25759 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
25760 displayed in the echo area.
25762 @item nnheader-max-head-length
25763 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
25764 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
25765 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
25766 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
25767 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
25768 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
25769 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
25770 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
25771 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
25773 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
25774 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
25775 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
25776 read when doing the operation described above.
25778 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25779 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25781 @cindex invalid characters in file names
25782 @cindex characters in file names
25783 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
25784 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
25785 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
25789 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25794 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
25795 Windows (phooey) systems.
25797 @item gnus-hidden-properties
25798 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
25799 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
25800 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
25801 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
25803 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
25804 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
25805 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
25806 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
25807 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
25809 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
25810 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
25811 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
25813 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25814 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25816 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
25817 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
25818 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
25819 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
25822 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
25830 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
25831 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
25833 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
25835 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
25841 Not because of victories @*
25844 but for the common sunshine,@*
25846 the largess of the spring.
25850 but for the day's work done@*
25851 as well as I was able;@*
25852 not for a seat upon the dais@*
25853 but at the common table.@*
25858 @chapter Appendices
25861 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
25862 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
25863 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
25864 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
25865 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
25866 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
25867 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
25868 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
25869 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
25876 @cindex installing under XEmacs
25878 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
25879 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
25880 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
25881 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
25882 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
25883 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
25890 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
25891 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
25893 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
25894 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
25895 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
25896 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
25897 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
25899 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
25900 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
25901 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
25902 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
25903 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
25904 appropriate name, don't you think?)
25906 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
25907 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
25908 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
25909 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
25912 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
25913 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
25914 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
25915 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
25916 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
25917 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
25918 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
25919 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
25920 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
25924 @node Gnus Versions
25925 @subsection Gnus Versions
25927 @cindex September Gnus
25929 @cindex Quassia Gnus
25930 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
25933 @cindex Gnus versions
25935 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
25936 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
25937 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
25939 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
25940 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
25942 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
25943 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
25945 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
25946 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
25948 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
25949 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
25952 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
25953 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
25955 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
25957 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
25958 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
25959 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
25960 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
25961 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
25962 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
25965 @node Other Gnus Versions
25966 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
25969 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
25970 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
25971 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
25972 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
25974 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
25975 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
25976 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
25977 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
25984 What's the point of Gnus?
25986 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
25987 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
25988 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
25989 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
25990 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
25991 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
25992 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
25993 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
25994 keep track of millions of people who post?
25996 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
25997 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
25998 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
25999 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26000 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26001 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26002 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26003 every one of you to explore and invent.
26005 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26006 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26009 @node Compatibility
26010 @subsection Compatibility
26012 @cindex compatibility
26013 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26014 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26015 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26020 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26024 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26027 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26030 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26031 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26032 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26033 important variables have their values copied into their global
26034 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26035 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26037 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26038 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26039 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26040 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26041 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26045 @cindex highlighting
26046 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26047 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26048 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26049 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26050 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26051 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26054 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26055 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26056 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26057 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26059 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26060 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26061 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26062 to stop doing it the old way.
26064 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26066 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26068 @cindex reporting bugs
26070 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26071 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26072 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26074 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26075 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26076 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26077 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26082 @subsection Conformity
26084 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26085 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26093 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26097 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26099 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26100 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26101 We do have some breaches to this one.
26107 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26108 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26109 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26110 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26111 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26116 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26117 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26118 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26119 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26121 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26122 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26123 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26125 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26126 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26128 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26131 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26132 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26133 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26134 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26135 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26138 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26139 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26140 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26141 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26143 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26144 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26146 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26147 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26148 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26149 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26150 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26151 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26152 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26153 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26157 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26158 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26163 @subsection Emacsen
26169 Gnus should work on:
26177 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26181 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26182 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26183 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26184 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26186 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
26187 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
26188 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
26192 @node Gnus Development
26193 @subsection Gnus Development
26195 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26196 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
26197 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26198 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26199 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26200 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26201 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26202 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
26204 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26205 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26206 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
26207 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26208 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
26211 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26212 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26213 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26214 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26215 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26217 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26218 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26219 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26220 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26221 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26222 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26223 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26224 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26225 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26226 can't be assumed to do so.
26229 @c ding = gmane.emacs.gnus.general
26230 @c newsgroup = gnu.emacs.gnus = gmane.emacs.gnus.user = info-gnus-english
26234 @subsection Contributors
26235 @cindex contributors
26237 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26238 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26239 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26240 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26241 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26242 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26243 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26244 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26245 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26246 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26248 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26254 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26257 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
26258 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26259 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26260 functionality and stuff.
26263 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26264 well as numerous other things).
26267 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26270 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26273 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26276 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26279 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26280 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26283 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26286 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26289 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26292 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26295 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
26298 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26301 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26302 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26305 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26308 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26311 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26314 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26318 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26321 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26324 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26327 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26328 well as autoconf support.
26332 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26333 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26335 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26350 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26352 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26356 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26366 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26381 Massimo Campostrini,
26386 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26387 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26391 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
26394 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
26400 Michael Welsh Duggan,
26405 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
26409 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
26417 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
26419 Michelangelo Grigni,
26423 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
26425 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
26427 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
26435 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
26436 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
26437 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
26439 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
26449 Peter Skov Knudsen,
26450 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
26452 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
26453 Thor Kristoffersen,
26456 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
26474 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
26475 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
26482 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
26487 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
26491 John McClary Prevost,
26497 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
26502 Christian von Roques,
26505 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
26512 Philippe Schnoebelen,
26514 Randal L. Schwartz,
26528 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
26533 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
26553 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
26554 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
26555 (550kB and counting).
26557 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
26560 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
26561 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
26565 @subsection New Features
26566 @cindex new features
26569 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
26570 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
26571 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
26572 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
26573 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
26574 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
26575 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
26578 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
26579 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
26580 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
26583 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
26585 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
26590 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
26591 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
26594 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
26595 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
26598 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
26601 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
26602 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
26603 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
26606 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
26607 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
26608 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
26609 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26612 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
26613 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26616 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
26617 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
26618 (@pxref{The Active File}).
26621 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
26622 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
26625 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
26626 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
26627 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26630 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
26631 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
26632 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
26635 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
26636 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
26639 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
26640 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
26643 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
26644 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
26647 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
26648 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26651 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
26652 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
26655 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
26656 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26659 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
26662 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
26663 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
26666 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
26667 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
26670 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
26671 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
26674 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
26677 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
26678 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26681 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
26685 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
26689 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
26690 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
26693 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
26699 @node September Gnus
26700 @subsubsection September Gnus
26704 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
26708 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
26713 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
26714 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
26718 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
26719 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
26723 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
26727 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
26728 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
26731 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
26735 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
26738 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
26741 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
26744 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
26748 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
26749 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
26752 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
26756 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
26760 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
26764 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
26768 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
26771 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
26772 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
26775 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
26779 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
26780 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
26783 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
26786 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
26787 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
26788 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26791 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
26795 The Gnus cache is much faster.
26798 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
26802 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
26803 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
26806 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
26807 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
26810 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
26811 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
26814 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
26815 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
26816 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
26819 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
26820 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
26823 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
26826 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26829 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
26832 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
26835 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
26836 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
26839 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
26843 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
26846 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
26851 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
26854 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
26858 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26861 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
26865 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
26868 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
26871 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
26872 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26875 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
26876 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
26880 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
26881 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
26884 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
26888 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
26889 buffer to allow easier treatment.
26892 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
26895 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
26899 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
26903 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
26904 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
26907 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
26911 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
26912 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26915 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
26916 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26919 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
26923 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26926 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
26929 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
26935 @subsubsection Red Gnus
26937 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
26941 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
26948 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
26951 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
26952 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26955 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
26956 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
26960 Article washing status can be displayed in the
26961 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
26964 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
26967 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
26968 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
26971 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
26975 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
26976 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
26980 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
26981 Server Internals}).
26984 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
26988 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
26991 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
26992 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
26995 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
26996 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
26997 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27000 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27001 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27004 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27005 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27008 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27012 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27013 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27016 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27017 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27020 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27024 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27027 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27031 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27032 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27035 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27036 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27039 A new command for reading collections of documents
27040 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27041 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27044 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27048 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27049 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27052 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27053 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27054 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27057 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27058 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27062 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27066 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27070 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27075 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27079 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27083 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27084 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27087 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27093 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27095 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27100 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27101 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27102 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27105 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27106 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27107 group, which is created automatically.
27110 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27114 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27117 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27118 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27121 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27125 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27128 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27129 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27132 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27135 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27139 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27140 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27143 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27144 control over simplification.
27147 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27150 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27154 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27157 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27160 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27161 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27162 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27165 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27166 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27169 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27173 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27174 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27177 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27178 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27181 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27185 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27188 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27191 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27192 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27195 A new function for citing in Message has been
27196 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27199 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27202 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27206 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27207 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27210 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27211 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27214 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27217 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27221 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27222 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27224 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27229 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27230 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27232 If you used procmail like in
27235 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27236 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27237 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27238 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27241 this now has changed to
27245 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27249 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27252 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27253 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27256 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27257 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27260 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27261 called to position point.
27264 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27265 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27268 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27269 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27272 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27273 subtly different manner.
27276 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27277 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27278 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27281 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27286 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27289 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27293 @item Installation changes
27294 @c ***********************
27298 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27300 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27301 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27302 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27303 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27304 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27305 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27306 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27307 isn't save in general.
27310 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27311 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27312 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27313 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27314 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27315 remove-installed-shadows}.
27318 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27320 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27321 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27322 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27323 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27324 the second parameter.
27326 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27327 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
27328 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27329 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27330 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27331 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27332 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27333 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27334 cycle used under Unix systems.
27336 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27337 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27340 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27342 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27343 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27346 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27347 @c CVS. We should find a better place for this item.
27349 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27351 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27352 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27353 lisp directory into load-path.
27355 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27356 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27360 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27361 @c *****************************************
27366 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27367 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27370 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27372 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27373 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
27374 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
27375 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
27378 Improved anti-spam features.
27380 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27381 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27382 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27383 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27384 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27385 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27388 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27390 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27391 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27392 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27393 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27394 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27398 @item Changes in group mode
27399 @c ************************
27404 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27408 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27410 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
27411 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
27414 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
27416 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
27417 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
27418 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
27419 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
27420 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
27423 (setq gnus-parameters
27425 (gnus-show-threads nil)
27426 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
27427 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
27428 (to-group . "\\1"))))
27432 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
27434 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
27435 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
27436 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
27437 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
27438 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
27439 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
27440 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
27441 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
27442 when getting new mail, remove the function.
27445 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
27447 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
27448 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
27449 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
27452 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
27453 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
27455 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
27456 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
27457 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
27459 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
27463 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
27464 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
27465 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10)
27469 @item Changes in summary and article mode
27470 @c **************************************
27475 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
27476 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
27477 region if the region is active.
27480 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
27481 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
27486 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
27487 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
27488 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
27489 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
27492 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
27497 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
27498 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
27500 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
27501 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
27505 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
27506 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
27509 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
27512 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
27513 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
27516 Warn about email replies to news
27518 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
27519 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
27523 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
27524 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
27528 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
27529 opposed to old but unread messages).
27532 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
27533 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
27536 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
27537 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
27540 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
27541 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
27544 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
27546 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
27547 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
27548 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
27549 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
27552 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
27553 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
27554 Outlook (Express) articles.
27557 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
27559 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
27560 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
27561 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
27562 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
27564 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
27565 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
27566 message cited below.
27569 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
27572 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
27576 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
27579 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
27580 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
27583 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
27586 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
27588 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
27589 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
27590 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
27591 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
27592 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
27596 Deleting of attachments.
27598 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
27599 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
27600 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
27601 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
27602 that support editing.
27605 @code{gnus-default-charset}
27607 The default value is determined from the
27608 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
27609 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
27610 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
27613 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
27615 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
27616 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
27617 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
27620 Extended format specs.
27622 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
27623 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
27624 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
27625 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
27626 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
27627 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
27630 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
27631 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
27633 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
27634 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
27635 out other articles.
27638 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
27640 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
27641 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
27642 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
27643 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
27646 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
27650 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
27651 @c ****************************************************
27658 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
27659 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
27660 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
27663 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
27664 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
27667 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
27668 Gcc articles as read.
27671 Externalizing of attachments
27673 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
27674 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
27675 local files as external parts.
27678 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
27679 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
27682 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
27684 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
27685 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
27686 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
27687 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
27688 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
27689 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
27690 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
27691 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
27692 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
27695 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
27697 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
27698 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
27699 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
27700 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
27701 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
27702 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
27705 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
27706 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
27710 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
27713 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
27715 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
27716 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
27717 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
27718 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
27719 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
27720 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
27721 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
27722 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
27723 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
27724 was inserted directly.
27727 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
27729 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
27730 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
27731 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
27732 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
27735 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
27737 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
27739 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
27740 'bbdb-complete-name)
27744 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
27746 Add a new format of match like
27748 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
27749 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
27751 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
27753 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
27754 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
27758 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
27760 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
27761 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
27762 need add those two headers too.
27765 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
27766 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
27767 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
27771 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
27772 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
27773 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
27774 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
27775 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
27778 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
27780 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
27783 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
27785 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
27789 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
27791 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
27792 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
27793 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
27794 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
27795 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
27796 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
27797 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
27798 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
27801 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
27802 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
27804 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
27805 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
27806 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
27807 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
27810 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
27813 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
27814 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
27817 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
27820 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
27821 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
27822 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
27823 invalidate the digital signature.
27826 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
27827 decompressed when activated.
27828 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
27831 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
27833 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
27834 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
27835 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
27836 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
27837 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
27840 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
27841 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
27842 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
27843 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11
27847 @item Changes in back ends
27848 @c ***********************
27852 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
27855 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
27858 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
27860 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
27863 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
27865 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
27866 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
27867 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
27868 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
27869 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
27870 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
27871 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
27872 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
27873 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
27874 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
27875 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
27885 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
27886 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
27889 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
27890 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
27891 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
27892 message, Message Manual}).
27895 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
27896 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars. This is a new
27897 feature in Gnus 5.10.9. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
27899 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
27900 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
27901 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
27906 @item Miscellaneous changes
27907 @c ************************
27914 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
27915 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
27916 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
27917 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
27918 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
27919 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
27920 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
27921 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
27922 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
27923 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
27924 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
27925 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
27926 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
27927 is not needed any more.
27930 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
27932 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
27933 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
27934 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
27939 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
27940 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
27941 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
27945 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
27948 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
27950 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
27957 @subsubsection No Gnus
27960 New features in No Gnus:
27961 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
27963 @include gnus-news.texi
27969 @section The Manual
27973 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
27974 either @code{texi2dvi}
27976 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
27977 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
27979 to get what you hold in your hands now.
27981 The following conventions have been used:
27986 This is a @samp{string}
27989 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
27992 This is a @file{file}
27995 This is a @code{symbol}
27999 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28003 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28006 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28009 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28012 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28013 ever get them confused.
28017 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28018 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28019 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28020 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28021 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28022 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28023 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28029 @node On Writing Manuals
28030 @section On Writing Manuals
28032 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28033 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28034 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28035 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28036 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28037 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28040 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28041 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28042 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28045 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28046 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28051 @section Terminology
28053 @cindex terminology
28058 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28059 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28060 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28061 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28062 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28066 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28067 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28068 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28069 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28073 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28077 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28082 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28083 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28084 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28085 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28086 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28087 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28088 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28089 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28090 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28093 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28094 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28095 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28096 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28097 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28098 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28100 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28101 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28102 access the articles.
28104 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28105 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28106 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28111 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28112 default, way of getting news.
28116 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28117 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28122 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28123 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28127 A message that has been posted as news.
28130 @cindex mail message
28131 A message that has been mailed.
28135 A mail message or news article
28139 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28144 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28149 A line from the head of an article.
28153 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28154 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28156 @item @acronym{NOV}
28157 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28158 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28159 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28160 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28161 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28162 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28164 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28165 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28166 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28167 normal @sc{head} format.
28169 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28170 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28171 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28172 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28173 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28176 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28177 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28178 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28179 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28180 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28181 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28182 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28186 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
28187 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28188 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
28189 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28190 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28191 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28193 @item killed groups
28194 @cindex killed groups
28195 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28196 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28198 @item zombie groups
28199 @cindex zombie groups
28200 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28203 @cindex active file
28204 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28205 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28206 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28209 @cindex bogus groups
28210 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28211 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28212 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28215 @cindex activating groups
28216 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28217 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28218 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28222 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28223 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28224 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28228 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28230 @item select method
28231 @cindex select method
28232 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28235 @item virtual server
28236 @cindex virtual server
28237 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28238 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28239 whole is a virtual server.
28243 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28244 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28247 @item ephemeral groups
28248 @cindex ephemeral groups
28249 @cindex temporary groups
28250 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28251 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28252 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28255 @cindex solid groups
28256 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28257 group buffer are solid groups.
28259 @item sparse articles
28260 @cindex sparse articles
28261 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28262 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28266 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28267 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28271 @cindex thread root
28272 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28273 articles in the thread.
28277 An article that has responses.
28281 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28285 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28286 specified by RFC 1153.
28289 @cindex splitting, terminology
28290 @cindex mail sorting
28291 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28292 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28293 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28299 @node Customization
28300 @section Customization
28301 @cindex general customization
28303 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28304 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28305 for some quite common situations.
28308 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28309 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28310 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28311 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28315 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28316 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28318 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28319 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28320 Gnus has to get from the server.
28324 @item gnus-read-active-file
28325 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28326 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28327 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28328 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28329 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28331 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28332 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28333 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28334 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28335 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28336 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28337 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28338 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28339 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28340 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28341 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28343 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28344 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28345 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28346 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}, and
28347 @code{nnwarchive-nov-is-evil}. Note that a non-@code{nil} value for
28348 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those variables.@footnote{Although
28349 the back ends @code{nnkiboze}, @code{nnslashdot}, @code{nnultimate}, and
28350 @code{nnwfm} don't have their own nn*-nov-is-evil.}
28354 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28355 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28357 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28358 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28359 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28363 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28364 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28365 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28366 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28367 horizontal and vertical recentering.
28369 @item gnus-visible-headers
28370 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
28371 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
28372 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
28373 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
28375 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
28377 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
28378 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
28379 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
28382 @item gnus-use-full-window
28383 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
28384 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
28385 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
28386 want to read them anyway.
28388 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
28389 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
28393 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
28394 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
28395 lines, which might save some time.
28399 @node Little Disk Space
28400 @subsection Little Disk Space
28403 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
28404 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
28408 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
28409 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
28410 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28411 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28414 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
28415 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
28416 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28417 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28420 @item gnus-save-killed-list
28421 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
28422 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
28423 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
28424 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
28430 @subsection Slow Machine
28431 @cindex slow machine
28433 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
28434 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
28436 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28437 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
28439 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
28440 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
28441 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
28445 @node Troubleshooting
28446 @section Troubleshooting
28447 @cindex troubleshooting
28449 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
28457 Make sure your computer is switched on.
28460 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
28461 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
28465 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
28467 @samp{No Gnus v0.7} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
28469 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
28470 files lying around. Delete these.
28473 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
28474 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
28477 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
28478 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
28479 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
28480 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
28481 something like that.
28484 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
28487 @cindex reporting bugs
28489 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
28491 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
28492 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
28493 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
28494 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
28496 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
28497 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
28498 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
28499 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
28502 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
28503 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
28504 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
28505 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
28506 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
28507 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
28509 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
28510 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
28511 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
28515 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
28516 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
28519 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
28520 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
28521 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
28522 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
28523 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
28524 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
28525 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
28526 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
28527 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
28528 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
28529 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
28530 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
28531 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
28532 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
28537 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
28538 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
28539 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
28540 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
28541 helps isolating the real problem areas).
28543 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
28544 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
28545 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
28546 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
28547 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
28548 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
28549 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
28550 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
28551 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
28552 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
28553 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
28554 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
28555 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
28558 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
28559 @cindex ding mailing list
28560 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
28561 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
28562 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
28563 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
28567 @node Gnus Reference Guide
28568 @section Gnus Reference Guide
28570 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
28571 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
28572 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
28573 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
28576 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
28577 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
28578 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
28579 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
28580 and general methods of operation.
28583 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
28584 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
28585 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
28586 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
28587 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
28588 * Group Info:: The group info format.
28589 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
28590 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
28591 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
28595 @node Gnus Utility Functions
28596 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
28597 @cindex Gnus utility functions
28598 @cindex utility functions
28600 @cindex internal variables
28602 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
28603 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
28604 Below is a list of the most common ones.
28608 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
28609 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
28610 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
28612 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
28613 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
28614 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
28616 @item gnus-group-real-name
28617 @findex gnus-group-real-name
28618 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
28621 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
28622 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
28623 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
28624 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
28626 @item gnus-get-info
28627 @findex gnus-get-info
28628 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
28630 @item gnus-group-unread
28631 @findex gnus-group-unread
28632 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
28636 @findex gnus-active
28637 The active entry for @var{group}.
28639 @item gnus-set-active
28640 @findex gnus-set-active
28641 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
28643 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
28644 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
28645 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
28648 @item gnus-continuum-version
28649 @findex gnus-continuum-version
28650 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
28651 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
28654 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
28655 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
28656 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
28658 @item gnus-news-group-p
28659 @findex gnus-news-group-p
28660 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
28662 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
28663 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
28664 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
28666 @item gnus-server-to-method
28667 @findex gnus-server-to-method
28668 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
28670 @item gnus-server-equal
28671 @findex gnus-server-equal
28672 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
28674 @item gnus-group-native-p
28675 @findex gnus-group-native-p
28676 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
28678 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
28679 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
28680 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
28682 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
28683 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
28684 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
28686 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
28687 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
28688 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
28689 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
28691 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
28692 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
28693 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
28695 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
28696 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
28697 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
28699 @item gnus-check-backend-function
28700 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
28701 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
28702 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
28705 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
28709 @item gnus-read-method
28710 @findex gnus-read-method
28711 Prompts the user for a select method.
28716 @node Back End Interface
28717 @subsection Back End Interface
28719 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
28720 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
28721 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
28722 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
28723 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
28724 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
28726 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
28727 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
28728 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
28729 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
28730 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
28731 been opened, the function should fail.
28733 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
28734 name. Take this example:
28738 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
28739 (nntp-port-number 4324))
28742 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
28743 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
28745 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
28746 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
28747 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
28749 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
28750 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
28751 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
28753 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
28754 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
28755 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
28756 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
28757 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
28758 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
28761 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
28762 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
28763 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
28764 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
28767 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
28768 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
28769 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
28770 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
28771 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
28772 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
28773 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
28774 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
28775 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
28776 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
28778 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
28779 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
28780 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
28781 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
28782 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
28783 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
28784 of numbers as long as possible.
28786 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
28787 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
28788 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
28790 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
28793 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
28796 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
28797 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
28798 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
28799 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
28800 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
28801 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
28805 @node Required Back End Functions
28806 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
28810 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
28812 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
28813 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
28814 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
28815 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
28817 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
28818 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
28819 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
28820 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
28822 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
28823 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
28824 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
28825 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
28826 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
28827 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
28828 number, do maximum fetches.
28830 Here's an example HEAD:
28833 221 1056 Article retrieved.
28834 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
28835 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
28836 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
28837 Subject: Re: Something very droll
28838 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
28839 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
28841 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
28842 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
28843 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
28847 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
28848 these in the data buffer.
28850 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
28854 head = error / valid-head
28855 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
28856 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
28857 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
28858 header = <text> eol
28862 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
28864 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
28865 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
28869 nov-buffer = *nov-line
28870 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
28871 field = <text except TAB>
28874 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
28878 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
28880 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
28881 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
28883 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
28884 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
28885 server. In fact, it should do so.
28887 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
28888 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
28891 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
28893 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
28894 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
28897 There should be no data returned.
28900 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
28902 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
28903 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
28904 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
28905 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
28907 There should be no data returned.
28910 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
28912 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
28913 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
28914 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
28915 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
28917 There should be no data returned.
28920 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
28922 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
28924 There should be no data returned.
28927 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
28929 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
28930 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
28931 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
28932 it would be nice if that were possible.
28934 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
28935 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
28936 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
28937 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
28938 into its article buffer.
28940 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
28941 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
28942 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
28943 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
28944 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
28945 on successful article retrieval.
28948 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
28950 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
28951 making @var{group} the current group.
28953 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
28956 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
28959 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
28962 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
28963 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
28964 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
28965 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
28966 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
28967 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
28968 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
28969 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
28970 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
28974 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
28975 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
28976 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
28980 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28982 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
28983 a no-op on most back ends.
28985 There should be no data returned.
28988 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
28990 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
28993 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
28996 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
28997 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29000 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29001 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29002 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29003 and the highest as 0.
29006 active-file = *active-line
29007 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29009 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29012 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29013 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29014 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29017 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29019 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29020 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29021 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29022 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29023 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29024 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29026 There should be no result data from this function.
29031 @node Optional Back End Functions
29032 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29036 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29038 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29039 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29040 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29042 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29043 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29044 former is in the same format as the data from
29045 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29046 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29049 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29053 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29055 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29056 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29057 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29058 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29059 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29060 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29061 the network resources).
29063 There should be no result data from this function.
29066 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29068 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29069 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29070 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29071 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29072 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29073 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29074 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29075 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29077 There should be no result data from this function.
29080 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29082 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29083 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29084 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29085 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29086 propagate the mark information to the server.
29088 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29091 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29094 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29095 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29096 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29097 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29098 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29099 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29100 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29101 possible, not limit itself to these.
29103 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29104 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29105 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29106 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29108 An example action list:
29111 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29112 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29113 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29116 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29117 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29119 There should be no result data from this function.
29121 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29123 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29124 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29125 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29126 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29127 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29129 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29130 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29131 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29134 There should be no result data from this function.
29137 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29139 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29140 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29141 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29142 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29143 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29144 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29145 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29146 local if that's practical.
29148 There should be no result data from this function.
29151 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29153 The result data from this function should be a description of
29157 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29159 description = <text>
29162 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29164 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29165 groups available on the server.
29168 description-buffer = *description-line
29172 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29174 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29175 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29176 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29177 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29178 in the active buffer format.
29180 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29181 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29182 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29183 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29184 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29185 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29186 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29189 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29191 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29193 There should be no return data.
29196 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29198 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29199 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29200 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29201 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29202 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29205 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29208 There should be no result data returned.
29211 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29213 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29214 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29216 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29217 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29218 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29219 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29220 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29221 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29223 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29224 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29227 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29228 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29230 There should be no data returned.
29233 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29235 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29236 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29237 this function in short order.
29239 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29240 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29242 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29243 article for that group.
29245 There should be no data returned.
29248 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29250 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29251 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29253 There should be no data returned.
29256 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29258 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29259 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29260 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29262 There should be no data returned.
29265 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29267 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29268 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29270 There should be no data returned.
29275 @node Error Messaging
29276 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29278 @findex nnheader-report
29279 @findex nnheader-get-report
29280 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29281 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29282 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29283 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29284 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29285 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29288 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29290 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29293 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29294 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29295 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29296 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29298 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29299 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29300 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29303 @node Writing New Back Ends
29304 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29306 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29307 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29308 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29309 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29310 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29313 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29314 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29315 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29317 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29318 package called @code{nnoo}.
29320 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29321 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29327 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29328 parameters. For instance:
29331 (nnoo-declare nndir
29335 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29336 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29339 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29340 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29341 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29343 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29344 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29345 a function in those back ends.
29348 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29349 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29350 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29353 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29354 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29355 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29357 @item nnoo-define-basics
29358 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
29362 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29366 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
29367 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
29368 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
29370 @item nnoo-map-functions
29371 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
29372 functions from the parent back ends.
29375 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29376 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29377 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
29380 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
29381 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
29382 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
29383 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
29386 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
29387 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
29388 haven't already been defined.
29394 nnmh-request-newgroups)
29398 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
29399 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
29400 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
29405 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
29408 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
29409 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
29413 (require 'nnheader)
29417 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
29419 (nnoo-declare nndir
29422 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29423 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29424 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29426 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
29427 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
29430 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
29432 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
29433 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
29434 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
29436 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
29437 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
29439 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
29441 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29443 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
29444 (setq nndir-directory
29445 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
29447 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
29448 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
29449 (push `(nndir-current-group
29450 ,(file-name-nondirectory
29451 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29453 (push `(nndir-top-directory
29454 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29456 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
29458 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29459 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29460 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29461 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
29462 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
29466 nnmh-status-message
29468 nnmh-request-newgroups))
29474 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29475 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29477 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
29478 @findex gnus-declare-backend
29479 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
29480 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
29481 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
29483 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
29484 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
29489 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
29492 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
29494 The abilities can be:
29498 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
29500 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
29502 This back end supports both mail and news.
29504 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
29507 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
29508 articles and groups.
29510 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
29511 true for almost all back ends.
29512 @item prompt-address
29513 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
29514 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
29515 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
29519 @node Mail-like Back Ends
29520 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
29522 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
29523 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
29524 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
29525 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
29528 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
29529 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
29530 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
29533 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
29534 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
29537 This function takes four parameters.
29541 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
29544 @item exit-function
29545 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
29547 @item temp-directory
29548 Where the temporary files should be stored.
29551 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
29552 performed for one group only.
29555 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
29556 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
29557 find the article number assigned to this article.
29559 The function also uses the following variables:
29560 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
29561 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
29562 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
29563 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
29567 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
29568 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
29572 @node Score File Syntax
29573 @subsection Score File Syntax
29575 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
29576 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
29577 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
29579 Here's a typical score file:
29583 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
29590 BNF definition of a score file:
29593 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
29594 element = rule / atom
29595 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
29596 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
29597 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
29598 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
29600 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
29601 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
29602 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
29603 date-header = "date"
29604 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29605 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29606 score = "nil" / <integer>
29607 date = "nil" / <natural number>
29608 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
29609 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
29610 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
29611 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
29612 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29613 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29614 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
29615 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29616 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
29617 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
29618 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
29619 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
29620 exclude-files / read-only / touched
29621 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
29622 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
29623 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
29624 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
29625 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
29626 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
29627 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
29628 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
29629 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
29630 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
29631 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
29632 eval = "eval" space <form>
29633 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
29636 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
29639 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
29640 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
29641 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
29642 one looong line, then that's ok.
29644 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
29645 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
29649 @subsection Headers
29651 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
29652 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
29653 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
29654 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
29656 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
29657 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
29658 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
29659 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
29660 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
29661 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
29662 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
29664 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
29665 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
29666 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
29667 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
29668 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
29670 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
29671 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
29677 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
29678 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
29680 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
29681 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
29682 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
29683 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
29685 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
29689 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
29692 is transformed into
29695 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
29698 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
29699 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
29702 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
29705 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
29706 is slightly tricky:
29709 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
29715 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
29718 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
29724 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
29731 and is equal to the previous range.
29733 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
29734 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
29735 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
29739 range = simple-range / normal-range
29740 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
29741 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
29742 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
29743 number *[ " " contents ]
29746 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
29747 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
29748 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
29749 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
29750 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
29755 @subsection Group Info
29757 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
29758 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
29759 describes the group.
29761 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
29762 second is a more complex one:
29765 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
29767 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
29768 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
29770 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
29773 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
29774 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
29775 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
29776 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
29777 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
29778 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
29779 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
29780 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
29781 this section is about.
29783 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
29784 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
29785 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
29787 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
29790 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
29791 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
29792 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29793 group = quote <string> quote
29794 ralevel = rank / level
29795 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
29796 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
29797 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
29799 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
29800 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
29801 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
29802 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
29805 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
29806 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
29809 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
29810 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
29813 @item gnus-info-group
29814 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
29815 @findex gnus-info-group
29816 @findex gnus-info-set-group
29817 Get/set the group name.
29819 @item gnus-info-rank
29820 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
29821 @findex gnus-info-rank
29822 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
29823 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
29825 @item gnus-info-level
29826 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
29827 @findex gnus-info-level
29828 @findex gnus-info-set-level
29829 Get/set the group level.
29831 @item gnus-info-score
29832 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
29833 @findex gnus-info-score
29834 @findex gnus-info-set-score
29835 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
29837 @item gnus-info-read
29838 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
29839 @findex gnus-info-read
29840 @findex gnus-info-set-read
29841 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
29843 @item gnus-info-marks
29844 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
29845 @findex gnus-info-marks
29846 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
29847 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
29849 @item gnus-info-method
29850 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
29851 @findex gnus-info-method
29852 @findex gnus-info-set-method
29853 Get/set the group select method.
29855 @item gnus-info-params
29856 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
29857 @findex gnus-info-params
29858 @findex gnus-info-set-params
29859 Get/set the group parameters.
29862 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
29863 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
29865 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
29866 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
29867 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
29868 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
29871 @node Extended Interactive
29872 @subsection Extended Interactive
29873 @cindex interactive
29874 @findex gnus-interactive
29876 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
29877 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
29878 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
29881 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
29882 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
29887 The best thing to do would have been to implement
29888 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
29889 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
29890 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
29891 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
29892 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
29893 @code{interactive}.
29895 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
29900 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
29901 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
29905 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
29906 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
29907 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
29910 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
29914 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
29918 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
29924 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
29925 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
29929 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
29930 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
29931 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
29933 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
29934 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
29935 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
29936 Gnus, that's very useful.
29938 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
29939 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
29940 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
29941 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
29942 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
29943 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
29944 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
29945 following function:
29948 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
29952 (,function ,@@args))
29956 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
29957 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
29958 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
29961 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
29962 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
29963 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
29965 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
29966 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
29967 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
29970 @node Various File Formats
29971 @subsection Various File Formats
29974 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
29975 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
29979 @node Active File Format
29980 @subsubsection Active File Format
29982 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
29983 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
29986 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
29989 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
29990 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
29991 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
29992 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
29993 no.general 1000 900 y
29996 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
29999 active = *group-line
30000 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30001 group = <non-white-space string>
30003 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30004 low-number = <positive integer>
30005 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30008 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30009 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30012 @node Newsgroups File Format
30013 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30015 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30016 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30017 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30020 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30021 Here's the definition:
30025 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30026 group = <non-white-space string>
30028 description = <string>
30033 @node Emacs for Heathens
30034 @section Emacs for Heathens
30036 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30037 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30038 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30039 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30040 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30041 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30042 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30046 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30047 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30052 @subsection Keystrokes
30056 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30059 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30062 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30063 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30064 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30065 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30066 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30067 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30069 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30070 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30071 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30072 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30073 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30074 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30075 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30077 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30078 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30079 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30080 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30081 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30082 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30083 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30085 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30086 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30087 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30088 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30089 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30095 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30097 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30098 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30099 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30100 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30102 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30103 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30104 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30105 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30106 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30107 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30108 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30109 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30110 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30111 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30113 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30114 write the following:
30117 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30120 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30121 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30122 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30123 change how Gnus works.
30125 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30126 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30127 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30128 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30129 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30131 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30132 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30133 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30137 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30141 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30144 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
30145 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
30148 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
30151 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30152 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30155 @include gnus-faq.texi
30157 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30158 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30159 @include doclicense.texi
30179 @c Local Variables:
30181 @c coding: iso-8859-1
30185 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819