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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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268 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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277 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
278 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
281 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
282 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
283 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
284 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
285 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
286 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
287 License'' in the Emacs manual.
289 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
290 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
291 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
293 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
294 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
295 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
296 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
304 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
306 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
311 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
334 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
335 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
337 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
338 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
339 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
340 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
341 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
342 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
343 License'' in the Emacs manual.
345 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
346 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
347 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
349 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
350 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
351 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
352 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
361 @top The Gnus Newsreader
365 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
366 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
367 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
370 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
381 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
382 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
384 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
385 being accused of plagiarism:
387 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
388 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
389 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
390 can even read news with it!
392 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
393 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
394 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
395 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
396 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
402 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
403 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
404 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
405 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
406 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
407 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
408 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
409 * Various:: General purpose settings.
410 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
411 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
412 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
413 * Key Index:: Key Index.
416 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
420 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
421 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
422 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
423 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
424 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
425 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
426 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
427 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
428 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
429 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
430 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
434 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
435 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
436 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
440 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
441 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
442 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
443 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
444 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
445 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
446 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
447 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
448 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
449 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
450 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
451 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
452 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
453 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
454 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
455 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
456 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
460 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
461 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
462 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
466 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
467 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
468 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
469 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
470 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
474 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
475 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
476 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
477 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
481 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
482 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
483 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
484 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
485 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
486 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
487 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
488 * Threading:: How threads are made.
489 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
490 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
491 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
492 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
493 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
494 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
495 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
496 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
497 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
498 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
499 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
500 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
501 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
502 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
503 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
504 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
505 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
506 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
507 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
508 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
509 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
511 Summary Buffer Format
513 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
514 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
515 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
516 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
520 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
521 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
523 Reply, Followup and Post
525 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
526 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
527 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
528 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
532 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
533 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
534 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
535 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
536 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
537 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
541 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
542 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
544 Customizing Threading
546 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
547 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
548 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
549 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
553 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
554 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
555 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
556 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
557 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
558 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
562 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
563 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
564 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
568 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
569 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
570 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
571 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
572 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
573 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
574 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
575 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
577 Alternative Approaches
579 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
580 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
582 Various Summary Stuff
584 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
585 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
586 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
587 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
591 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
592 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
593 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
594 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
595 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
599 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
600 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
601 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
602 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
603 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
604 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
605 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
606 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
610 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
611 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
612 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
613 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
614 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
615 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
616 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
620 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
621 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
622 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
623 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
624 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
625 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
626 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
630 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
631 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
635 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
636 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
637 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
638 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
639 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
640 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
641 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
642 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
643 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
644 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
645 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
646 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
647 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
651 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
652 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
653 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
655 Choosing a Mail Backend
657 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
658 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
659 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
660 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
661 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
662 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
666 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
667 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
668 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
669 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
670 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
671 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
675 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
676 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
677 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
678 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
679 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
680 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
684 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
688 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
689 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
690 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
694 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
695 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
696 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
700 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
701 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
705 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
706 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
707 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
708 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
709 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
710 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
711 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
712 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
713 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
714 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
718 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
719 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
720 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
724 * Group Agent Commands::
725 * Summary Agent Commands::
726 * Server Agent Commands::
730 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
731 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
732 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
733 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
734 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
735 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
736 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
737 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
738 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
739 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
740 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
741 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
742 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
743 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
744 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
745 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
749 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
750 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
751 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
752 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
756 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
757 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
758 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
762 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
763 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
764 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
765 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
766 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
767 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
768 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
769 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
770 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
771 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
772 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
773 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
774 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
775 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
776 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
777 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
778 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
779 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
783 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
784 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
785 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
786 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
787 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
791 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
792 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
793 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
794 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
798 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
799 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
800 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
801 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
802 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
806 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
807 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
808 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
809 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
810 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
811 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
812 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
813 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
817 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
818 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
819 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
820 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
821 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
822 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
823 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
824 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
825 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
829 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
830 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
831 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
832 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
833 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
837 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
838 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
839 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
840 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
844 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
845 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
846 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
847 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
848 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
849 * Group Info:: The group info format.
850 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
851 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
852 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
856 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
857 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
858 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
859 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
860 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
861 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
865 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
866 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
870 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
871 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
877 @chapter Starting Gnus
882 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
883 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
886 @findex gnus-other-frame
887 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
888 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
889 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
891 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
892 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
893 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
895 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
896 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
899 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
900 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
901 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
902 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
903 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
904 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
905 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
906 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
907 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
908 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
909 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
913 @node Finding the News
914 @section Finding the News
917 @vindex gnus-select-method
919 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
920 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
921 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
922 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
925 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
926 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
932 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
935 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
938 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
939 certainly be much faster.
941 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
943 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
944 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
945 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
946 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
947 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
948 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
950 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
951 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
952 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
953 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
955 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
956 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
957 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
958 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
959 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
960 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
961 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
962 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
963 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
966 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
968 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
969 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
970 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
971 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
972 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
973 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
975 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
977 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
978 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
979 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
980 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
981 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
982 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
985 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
986 would typically set this variable to
989 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
994 @section The First Time
995 @cindex first time usage
997 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
998 be subscribed by default.
1000 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1001 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1002 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1003 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1006 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1007 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1008 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1010 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1011 help you with most common problems.
1013 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1014 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1018 @node The Server is Down
1019 @section The Server is Down
1020 @cindex server errors
1022 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1023 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1024 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1026 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1027 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1028 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1029 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1030 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1031 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1032 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1034 @findex gnus-no-server
1035 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1037 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1038 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1039 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1040 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1041 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1042 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1043 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1047 @section Slave Gnusae
1050 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1051 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1052 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1053 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1055 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1056 @code{.newsrc} file.
1058 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1059 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1060 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1061 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1062 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1063 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1064 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1066 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1067 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1068 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1069 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1070 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1071 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1072 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1073 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1075 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1076 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1079 @node Fetching a Group
1080 @section Fetching a Group
1081 @cindex fetching a group
1083 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1084 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1085 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1086 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1087 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1088 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1094 @cindex subscription
1096 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1097 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1098 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1099 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1100 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1101 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1102 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1103 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1104 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1107 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1108 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1109 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1113 @node Checking New Groups
1114 @subsection Checking New Groups
1116 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1117 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1118 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1119 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1120 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1121 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1122 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1123 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1124 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1125 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1127 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1128 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1129 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1130 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1131 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1132 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1133 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1134 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1135 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1136 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1137 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1139 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1140 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1141 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1142 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1143 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1144 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1147 @node Subscription Methods
1148 @subsection Subscription Methods
1150 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1151 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1152 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1154 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1155 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1157 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1161 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1162 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1163 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1164 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1165 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1167 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1168 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1169 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1170 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1172 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1173 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1174 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1176 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1177 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1178 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1179 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1180 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1181 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1182 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1183 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1184 up. Or something like that.
1186 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1187 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1188 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1189 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1190 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1192 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1193 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1194 Kill all new groups.
1196 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1197 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1198 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1199 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1200 topic parameter that looks like
1206 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1209 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1214 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1215 A closely related variable is
1216 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1217 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1218 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1219 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1222 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1223 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1224 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1225 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1228 @node Filtering New Groups
1229 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1231 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1232 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1233 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1236 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1240 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1241 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1242 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1243 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1244 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1245 subscribing these groups.
1246 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1247 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1249 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1250 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1251 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1252 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1253 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1254 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1255 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1256 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1258 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1259 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1260 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1261 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1262 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1263 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1264 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1265 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1266 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1267 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1269 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1270 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1273 @node Changing Servers
1274 @section Changing Servers
1275 @cindex changing servers
1277 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1278 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1279 very flaky and you want to use another.
1281 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1282 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1286 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1287 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1288 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1289 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1292 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1293 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1294 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1295 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1297 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1298 @findex gnus-change-server
1299 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1300 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1301 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1303 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1305 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1306 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1307 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1308 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1309 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1311 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1312 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1313 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1314 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1315 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1316 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1318 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1319 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1320 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1324 @section Startup Files
1325 @cindex startup files
1330 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1331 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1333 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1334 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1335 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1336 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1337 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1338 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1339 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1341 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1342 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1343 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1344 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1345 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1346 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1348 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1349 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1350 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1351 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1352 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1353 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1354 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1355 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1356 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1357 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1359 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1360 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1361 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1362 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1363 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1364 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1365 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1366 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1367 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1368 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1369 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1370 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1372 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1373 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1374 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1375 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1377 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1378 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1379 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1380 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1381 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1382 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1383 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1384 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1385 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1386 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1389 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1390 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1392 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1393 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1396 @vindex gnus-init-file
1397 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1398 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1399 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1400 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1401 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1402 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1403 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1404 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1405 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1411 @cindex dribble file
1414 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1415 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1416 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1417 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1418 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1421 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1422 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1425 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1426 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1427 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1429 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1430 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1431 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1432 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1433 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1434 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1436 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1437 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1438 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1441 @node The Active File
1442 @section The Active File
1444 @cindex ignored groups
1446 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1447 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1448 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1450 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1451 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1452 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1453 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1454 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1455 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1456 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1459 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1460 @c if you set it to anything else.
1462 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1464 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1465 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1466 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1468 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1469 you actually subscribe to.
1471 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1472 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1473 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1474 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1476 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1477 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1478 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1479 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1480 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1481 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1483 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1484 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1485 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1488 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1489 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1490 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1491 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1492 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1493 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1495 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1496 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1498 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1499 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1501 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1502 secondary select methods.
1505 @node Startup Variables
1506 @section Startup Variables
1510 @item gnus-load-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1512 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1513 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1514 times you start Gnus.
1516 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1517 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1518 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1520 @item gnus-startup-hook
1521 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1522 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1524 @item gnus-started-hook
1525 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1526 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1529 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1530 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1531 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1532 generating the group buffer.
1534 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1535 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1536 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1537 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1538 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1539 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1540 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1541 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1543 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1544 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1545 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1546 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1547 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1548 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1550 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1551 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1552 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1554 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1555 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1556 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1558 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1559 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1560 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1561 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1567 @chapter Group Buffer
1568 @cindex group buffer
1570 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1571 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1572 long as Gnus is active.
1576 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1577 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1578 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1579 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1580 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1581 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1582 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1583 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1589 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1590 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1591 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1592 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1593 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1594 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1595 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1596 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1597 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1598 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1599 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1600 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1601 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1602 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1603 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1604 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1605 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1609 @node Group Buffer Format
1610 @section Group Buffer Format
1613 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1614 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1615 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1619 @node Group Line Specification
1620 @subsection Group Line Specification
1621 @cindex group buffer format
1623 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1624 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1626 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1629 25: news.announce.newusers
1630 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1635 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1636 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1637 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1638 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1640 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1641 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1642 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1643 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1644 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1645 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1647 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1649 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1650 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1651 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1652 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1655 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1656 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1657 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1659 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1664 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1667 Whether the group is subscribed.
1670 Level of subscribedness.
1673 Number of unread articles.
1676 Number of dormant articles.
1679 Number of ticked articles.
1682 Number of read articles.
1685 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1686 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1688 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1689 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1690 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1691 raisins, even the mail backends, where the true number of unread
1692 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1693 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1694 backend interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1695 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1698 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1701 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1710 Newsgroup description.
1713 @samp{m} if moderated.
1716 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1725 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1729 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1732 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1733 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1734 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1735 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1736 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1739 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1741 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1745 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1748 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1752 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1753 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1754 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1755 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1756 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1757 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1762 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1763 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1764 group, or a bogus native group.
1767 @node Group Modeline Specification
1768 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1769 @cindex group modeline
1771 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1772 The mode line can be changed by setting
1773 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1774 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1778 The native news server.
1780 The native select method.
1784 @node Group Highlighting
1785 @subsection Group Highlighting
1786 @cindex highlighting
1787 @cindex group highlighting
1789 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1790 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1791 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1792 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1793 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1795 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1799 (cond (window-system
1800 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1801 (defface my-group-face-1
1802 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1803 (defface my-group-face-2
1804 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1805 (defface my-group-face-3
1806 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1807 (defface my-group-face-4
1808 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1809 (defface my-group-face-5
1810 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1812 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1813 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1814 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1815 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1816 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1817 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1820 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1822 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1829 The number of unread articles in the group.
1833 Whether the group is a mail group.
1835 The level of the group.
1837 The score of the group.
1839 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1841 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1842 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1844 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1845 topic being inserted.
1848 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1849 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1850 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1852 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1853 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1854 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1855 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1856 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1859 @node Group Maneuvering
1860 @section Group Maneuvering
1861 @cindex group movement
1863 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1864 expected, hopefully.
1870 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1871 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1872 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1878 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1879 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1880 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1884 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1885 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1889 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1890 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1894 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1895 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1896 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1900 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1901 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1902 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1905 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1911 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1912 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1913 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1918 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1919 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1920 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1924 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1925 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1926 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1929 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1930 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1931 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1932 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1936 @node Selecting a Group
1937 @section Selecting a Group
1938 @cindex group selection
1943 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1944 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1945 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1946 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1947 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1948 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1949 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1950 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1951 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1952 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1954 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
1955 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
1956 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
1958 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
1959 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
1964 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1965 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1966 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1967 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1968 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1972 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1973 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1974 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1975 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1976 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1977 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1978 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1979 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1980 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1981 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1984 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1985 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1986 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1987 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1988 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1991 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1992 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1993 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1994 doing any processing of its contents
1995 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1996 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1997 manner will have no permanent effects.
2001 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2002 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2003 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2004 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2005 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2006 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2007 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2008 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2011 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2012 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2013 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2014 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2019 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2020 full summary buffer.
2023 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2026 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2031 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2032 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2033 Useful functions include:
2036 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2037 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2038 don't select the article.
2040 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2041 Select the first unread article.
2043 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2044 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2048 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2049 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2050 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2054 @node Subscription Commands
2055 @section Subscription Commands
2056 @cindex subscription
2064 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2065 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2066 Toggle subscription to the current group
2067 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2073 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2074 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2075 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2076 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2082 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2083 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2084 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2090 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2091 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2094 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2096 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2097 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2098 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2104 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2105 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2109 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2110 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2113 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2115 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2116 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2117 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2118 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2119 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2120 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2121 @file{.newsrc} file.
2125 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2135 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2136 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2137 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2138 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2139 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2140 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2145 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2146 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2147 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2151 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2152 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2153 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2155 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2156 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2157 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2158 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2159 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2160 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2167 @section Group Levels
2171 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2172 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2173 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2174 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2175 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2177 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2183 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2184 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2185 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2186 prompted for a level.
2189 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2190 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2191 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2192 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2193 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2194 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2195 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2196 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2197 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2198 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2199 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2200 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2201 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2202 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2203 reasons of efficiency.
2205 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2206 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2208 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2209 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2210 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2211 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2212 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2213 groups are hidden, in a way.
2215 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2216 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2217 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2218 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2219 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2220 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2222 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2223 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2224 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2225 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2226 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2227 list of killed groups.)
2229 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2230 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2231 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2233 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2234 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2235 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2236 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2237 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2238 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2239 relevant valid ranges.
2241 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2242 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2243 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2244 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2245 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2246 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2249 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2250 one with the best level.
2252 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2253 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2254 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2257 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2258 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2259 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2260 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2263 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2264 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2265 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2266 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2268 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2269 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2270 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2271 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2272 to 5. The default is 6.
2276 @section Group Score
2281 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2282 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2283 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2286 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2287 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2288 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2289 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2290 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2291 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2292 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2293 least significant part.))
2295 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2296 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2297 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2298 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2299 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2300 action after each summary exit, you can add
2301 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2302 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2303 slow things down somewhat.
2306 @node Marking Groups
2307 @section Marking Groups
2308 @cindex marking groups
2310 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2311 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2312 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2313 bidding on those groups.
2315 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2316 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2317 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2325 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2326 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2332 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2333 Remove the mark from the current group
2334 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2338 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2339 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2343 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2344 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2348 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2349 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2353 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2354 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2355 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2358 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2360 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2361 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2362 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2363 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2364 the command to be executed.
2367 @node Foreign Groups
2368 @section Foreign Groups
2369 @cindex foreign groups
2371 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2372 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2373 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2374 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2381 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2382 @cindex making groups
2383 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2384 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2385 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2389 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2390 @cindex renaming groups
2391 Rename the current group to something else
2392 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2393 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2399 @findex gnus-group-customize
2400 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2404 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2405 @cindex renaming groups
2406 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2407 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2411 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2412 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2413 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2417 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2418 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2419 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2423 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2425 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2426 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2431 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2432 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2436 @cindex (ding) archive
2437 @cindex archive group
2438 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2439 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2440 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2441 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2442 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2443 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2444 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2448 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2450 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2451 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2452 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2453 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2457 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2459 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2460 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2461 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2465 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2466 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2468 Make a group based on some file or other
2469 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2470 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2471 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2472 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2473 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2474 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2475 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2479 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2480 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2481 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2482 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2486 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2491 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2492 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2493 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2494 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2495 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2496 @xref{Web Searches}.
2498 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2499 to a particular group by using a match string like
2500 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2503 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2504 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2505 This function will delete the current group
2506 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2507 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2508 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2509 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2510 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2514 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2515 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2516 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2520 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2521 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2522 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2525 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2528 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2529 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2530 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2531 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2532 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2533 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2537 @node Group Parameters
2538 @section Group Parameters
2539 @cindex group parameters
2541 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2542 Here's an example group parameter list:
2545 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2549 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2550 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2551 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2552 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2554 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2555 is an alist of regexps and values.
2557 The following group parameters can be used:
2562 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2565 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2568 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2569 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2570 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2571 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2572 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2574 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2575 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2576 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2577 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2578 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2579 list address instead.
2581 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2585 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2588 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2591 It is totally ignored
2592 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2593 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2595 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2596 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2597 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2598 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2599 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2601 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2602 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2603 sending the message.
2605 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2609 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2610 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2611 of whether it has any unread articles.
2613 @item broken-reply-to
2614 @cindex broken-reply-to
2615 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2616 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2617 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2618 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2619 broken behavior. So there!
2623 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2624 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2628 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2629 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2630 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2635 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2636 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2637 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2638 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2639 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2640 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2641 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2645 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2646 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2647 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2649 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2652 @cindex total-expire
2653 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2654 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2655 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2656 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2659 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2663 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2664 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2665 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2666 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2667 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2668 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2671 @cindex score file group parameter
2672 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2673 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2674 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2677 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2678 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2679 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2680 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2683 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2684 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2685 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2686 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2689 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2690 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2694 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2697 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2702 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2703 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2704 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2708 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2709 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2710 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2712 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2714 @item ignored-charsets
2715 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-known iso-8859-1)}
2716 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2717 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2719 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2722 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2723 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2724 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2725 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2726 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2728 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2729 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2730 like this in the group parameters:
2735 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2739 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2740 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2741 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2742 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2743 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2745 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2746 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2747 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2748 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2749 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2750 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2751 @code{eval}ed there.
2753 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2754 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2755 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2756 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2757 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2761 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2762 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2763 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2764 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2765 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2767 Group parameters can be set in @code{gnus-parameters} too. But some
2768 variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For example,
2771 (setq gnus-parameters
2772 '(("mail\\..*" (gnus-show-threads nil)
2773 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2774 (gnus-summary-line-format
2775 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
2778 ("mail\\.me" (gnus-use-scoring t))
2779 ("list\\..*" (total-expire . t)
2780 (broken-reply-to . t)))
2783 @node Listing Groups
2784 @section Listing Groups
2785 @cindex group listing
2787 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2795 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2796 List all groups that have unread articles
2797 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2798 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2799 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2800 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2807 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2808 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2809 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2810 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2811 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2812 unsubscribed groups).
2816 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2817 List all unread groups on a specific level
2818 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2819 with no unread articles.
2823 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2824 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2825 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2826 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2831 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2832 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2836 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2837 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2838 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2842 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2843 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2847 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2848 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2849 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2850 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2851 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2852 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2853 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2854 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2858 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2859 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2860 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2864 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2865 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2866 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2870 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2871 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2875 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2876 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2880 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2881 List groups limited within the current selection
2882 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
2886 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
2887 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
2891 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
2892 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
2896 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2897 @cindex visible group parameter
2898 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2899 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2900 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2901 get the same effect.
2903 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2904 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2905 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2906 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2907 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2910 @node Sorting Groups
2911 @section Sorting Groups
2912 @cindex sorting groups
2914 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2915 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2916 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2917 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2918 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2919 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2924 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2925 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2926 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2928 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2929 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2930 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2932 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2933 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2934 Sort by group level.
2936 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2937 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2938 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2940 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2941 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2942 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2943 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2945 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2946 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2947 Sort by number of unread articles.
2949 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2950 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2951 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2953 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
2954 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
2955 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
2960 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2961 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2965 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2966 some sorting criteria:
2970 @kindex G S a (Group)
2971 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2972 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2973 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2976 @kindex G S u (Group)
2977 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2978 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2979 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2982 @kindex G S l (Group)
2983 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2984 Sort the group buffer by group level
2985 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2988 @kindex G S v (Group)
2989 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2990 Sort the group buffer by group score
2991 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2994 @kindex G S r (Group)
2995 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2996 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2997 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3000 @kindex G S m (Group)
3001 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3002 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
3003 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3007 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3008 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3010 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3011 commands will sort in reverse order.
3013 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3017 @kindex G P a (Group)
3018 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3019 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3020 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3023 @kindex G P u (Group)
3024 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3025 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3026 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3029 @kindex G P l (Group)
3030 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3031 Sort the groups by group level
3032 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3035 @kindex G P v (Group)
3036 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3037 Sort the groups by group score
3038 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3041 @kindex G P r (Group)
3042 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3043 Sort the groups by group rank
3044 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3047 @kindex G P m (Group)
3048 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3049 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
3050 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3054 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3058 @node Group Maintenance
3059 @section Group Maintenance
3060 @cindex bogus groups
3065 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3066 Find bogus groups and delete them
3067 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3071 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3072 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3073 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3074 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3075 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3079 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3080 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3081 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3082 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3083 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3084 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3087 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3088 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3089 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3090 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3095 @node Browse Foreign Server
3096 @section Browse Foreign Server
3097 @cindex foreign servers
3098 @cindex browsing servers
3103 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3104 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3105 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3106 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3109 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3110 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3111 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3112 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3114 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3119 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3120 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3124 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3125 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3128 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3129 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3130 Enter the current group and display the first article
3131 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3134 @kindex RET (Browse)
3135 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3136 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3140 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3141 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3142 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3148 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3149 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3153 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3154 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3155 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3160 @section Exiting Gnus
3161 @cindex exiting Gnus
3163 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3168 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3169 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3170 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3171 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3175 @findex gnus-group-exit
3176 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3177 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3181 @findex gnus-group-quit
3182 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3183 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3186 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3187 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3188 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3189 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3190 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3195 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3196 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3197 trying to customize meta-variables.
3202 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3203 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3204 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3210 @section Group Topics
3213 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3214 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3215 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3216 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3217 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3218 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3222 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3223 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3234 2: alt.religion.emacs
3237 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3239 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3240 13: comp.sources.unix
3243 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3245 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3246 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3247 is a toggling command.)
3249 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3250 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3251 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3252 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3255 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3256 the hook for the group mode:
3259 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3263 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3264 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3265 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3266 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3267 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3271 @node Topic Variables
3272 @subsection Topic Variables
3273 @cindex topic variables
3275 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3276 really neat, I think.
3278 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3279 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3280 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3293 Number of groups in the topic.
3295 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3297 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3300 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3301 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3302 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3305 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3306 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3308 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3309 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3310 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3313 @node Topic Commands
3314 @subsection Topic Commands
3315 @cindex topic commands
3317 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3318 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3319 definitions slightly.
3325 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3326 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3327 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3331 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3332 Move the current group to some other topic
3333 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3334 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3338 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3339 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3343 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3344 Copy the current group to some other topic
3345 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3346 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3350 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3351 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3352 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3356 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3357 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3358 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3362 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3363 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3364 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3365 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3366 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3367 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3368 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3371 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3372 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3376 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3377 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3378 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3382 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3383 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3384 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3388 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3389 Toggle hiding empty topics
3390 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3394 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3395 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3396 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3399 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3400 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3401 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3402 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3406 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3408 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3409 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3410 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3411 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3414 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3415 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3416 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3417 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3421 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3423 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3424 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3425 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3426 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3427 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3428 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3431 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3432 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3433 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3434 expiry process (if any)
3435 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3439 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3440 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3441 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3445 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3446 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3447 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3452 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3453 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3456 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3457 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3458 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3462 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3463 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3464 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3468 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3469 @cindex group parameters
3470 @cindex topic parameters
3472 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3473 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3479 @subsection Topic Sorting
3480 @cindex topic sorting
3482 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3488 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3489 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3490 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3491 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3494 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3495 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3496 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3497 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3500 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3501 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3502 Sort the current topic by group level
3503 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3506 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3507 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3508 Sort the current topic by group score
3509 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3512 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3513 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3514 Sort the current topic by group rank
3515 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3518 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3519 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3520 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3521 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3525 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3528 @node Topic Topology
3529 @subsection Topic Topology
3530 @cindex topic topology
3533 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3539 2: alt.religion.emacs
3542 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3544 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3545 13: comp.sources.unix
3548 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3549 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3550 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3555 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3556 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3560 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3561 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3562 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3563 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3564 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3565 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3567 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3568 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3569 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3572 @node Topic Parameters
3573 @subsection Topic Parameters
3574 @cindex topic parameters
3576 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3577 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3578 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3580 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3585 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3586 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3587 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3592 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3593 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3594 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3595 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3601 2: alt.religion.emacs
3605 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3607 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3608 13: comp.sources.unix
3612 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3613 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3614 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3615 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3616 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3617 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3619 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3620 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3621 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3622 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3623 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3625 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3626 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3627 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3628 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3629 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3630 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3631 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3632 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3635 @node Misc Group Stuff
3636 @section Misc Group Stuff
3639 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3640 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3641 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3642 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3649 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3650 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3651 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3655 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3656 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3657 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3661 @findex gnus-group-mail
3662 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3666 Variables for the group buffer:
3670 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3671 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3672 is called after the group buffer has been
3675 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3676 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3677 is called after the group buffer is
3678 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3681 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3682 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3683 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3684 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3686 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3687 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3688 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3689 whether they are empty or not.
3691 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3692 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3693 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3694 non-ASCII group names.
3698 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3699 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3702 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3703 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3704 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3705 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3709 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3710 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3715 @node Scanning New Messages
3716 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3717 @cindex new messages
3718 @cindex scanning new news
3724 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3725 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3726 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3727 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3728 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3729 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3734 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3735 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3736 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3737 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3738 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3739 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3740 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3742 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3743 @cindex activating groups
3745 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3746 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3751 @findex gnus-group-restart
3752 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3753 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3754 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3758 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3759 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3761 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3762 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3766 @node Group Information
3767 @subsection Group Information
3768 @cindex group information
3769 @cindex information on groups
3776 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3777 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3780 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3781 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3782 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3783 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3784 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3785 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3786 for fetching the file.
3788 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3789 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3793 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3795 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3796 @cindex describing groups
3797 @cindex group description
3798 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3799 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3800 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3804 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3805 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3806 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3813 @findex gnus-version
3814 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3818 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3819 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3822 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3825 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3826 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3830 @node Group Timestamp
3831 @subsection Group Timestamp
3833 @cindex group timestamps
3835 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3836 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3837 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3840 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3843 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3845 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3846 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3849 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3850 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3853 This will result in lines looking like:
3856 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3857 0: custom 19961002T012713
3860 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3861 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3865 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3866 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3871 @subsection File Commands
3872 @cindex file commands
3878 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3879 @vindex gnus-init-file
3880 @cindex reading init file
3881 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3882 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3886 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3887 @cindex saving .newsrc
3888 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3889 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3890 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3893 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3894 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3895 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3900 @node Summary Buffer
3901 @chapter Summary Buffer
3902 @cindex summary buffer
3904 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3905 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3907 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3908 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3910 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3913 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3914 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3915 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3916 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3917 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3918 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3919 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3920 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3921 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3922 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3923 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3924 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3925 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3926 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3927 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3928 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3929 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3930 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3931 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3932 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3933 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3934 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3935 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3936 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3937 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3938 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
3939 or reselecting the current group.
3940 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3941 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3942 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
3946 @node Summary Buffer Format
3947 @section Summary Buffer Format
3948 @cindex summary buffer format
3952 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3953 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3954 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3960 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3961 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3962 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3963 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3966 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3967 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3968 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3969 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3970 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3971 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3972 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3973 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3974 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3975 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3976 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3979 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3980 'mail-extract-address-components)
3983 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3984 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3985 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3986 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3989 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3990 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3992 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3993 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3994 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3995 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3996 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3998 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
3999 the colon after performing an operation.
4001 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
4003 The following format specification characters are understood:
4009 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4010 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4012 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4013 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4014 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4016 Full @code{From} header.
4018 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4020 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4021 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4023 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4024 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4025 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4026 may be more thorough.
4028 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4031 Number of lines in the article.
4033 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
4034 methods (like nnfolder).
4036 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4038 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4039 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4041 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4042 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4044 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4045 for adopted articles.
4047 One space for each thread level.
4049 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4054 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4055 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4059 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4061 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4062 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4063 default level. If the difference between
4064 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4065 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4073 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4075 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4081 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4082 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4084 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4085 article has any children.
4091 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4092 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4093 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4094 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4095 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4096 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4099 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4100 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4101 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4102 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4103 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4104 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4106 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4107 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4109 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4112 @node To From Newsgroups
4113 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4117 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4118 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4119 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4120 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4121 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4125 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4126 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4127 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4131 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4132 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4135 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4136 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4139 @findex gnus-extra-header
4140 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4141 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4142 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4145 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4149 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4150 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4151 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4152 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4153 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4154 headers are used instead.
4158 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4159 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4160 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4161 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4164 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4165 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4166 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4167 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4169 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4173 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4175 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4176 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4177 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4178 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4182 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4183 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4190 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4191 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4194 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4195 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4197 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4198 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4199 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4200 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4202 Here are the elements you can play with:
4208 Unprefixed group name.
4210 Current article number.
4212 Current article score.
4216 Number of unread articles in this group.
4218 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4221 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4222 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4223 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4224 and no unselected ones.
4226 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4227 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4229 Subject of the current article.
4231 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4233 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4235 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4237 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4239 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4241 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4245 @node Summary Highlighting
4246 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4250 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4251 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4252 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4253 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4254 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4256 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4257 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4258 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4259 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4261 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4262 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4263 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4264 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4266 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4267 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4268 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4269 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4270 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4271 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4274 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4275 ((> score default) . bold))
4277 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4278 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4282 @node Summary Maneuvering
4283 @section Summary Maneuvering
4284 @cindex summary movement
4286 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4287 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4289 None of these commands select articles.
4294 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4295 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4296 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4297 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4298 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4302 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4303 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4305 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4306 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4309 @kindex G g (Summary)
4310 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4311 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4312 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4315 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4316 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4317 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4318 to the group buffer.
4320 Variables related to summary movement:
4324 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4325 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4326 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4327 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4328 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4329 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4330 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4331 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4332 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4333 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4334 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4335 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4336 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4337 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4339 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4340 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4341 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4342 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4343 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4344 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4345 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4347 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4349 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4350 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4351 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4352 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4353 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4355 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4356 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4357 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4358 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4359 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4360 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4361 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4362 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4365 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4366 the given number of lines from the top.
4371 @node Choosing Articles
4372 @section Choosing Articles
4373 @cindex selecting articles
4376 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4377 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4381 @node Choosing Commands
4382 @subsection Choosing Commands
4384 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4385 and they all select and display an article.
4387 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4388 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4392 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4393 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4394 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4395 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4400 @kindex G n (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4402 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4403 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4408 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4409 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4410 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4415 @kindex G N (Summary)
4416 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4417 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4422 @kindex G P (Summary)
4423 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4424 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4427 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4428 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4429 Go to the next article with the same subject
4430 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4433 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4434 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4435 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4436 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4440 @kindex G f (Summary)
4442 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4443 Go to the first unread article
4444 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4448 @kindex G b (Summary)
4450 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4451 Go to the article with the highest score
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4457 @kindex G l (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4459 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4462 @kindex G o (Summary)
4463 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4465 @cindex article history
4466 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4467 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4468 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4469 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4470 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4471 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4476 @kindex G j (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4478 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4479 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4484 @node Choosing Variables
4485 @subsection Choosing Variables
4487 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4490 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4491 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4492 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4493 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4494 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4495 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4497 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4498 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4499 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4500 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4502 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4503 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4504 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4505 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4506 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4507 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4508 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4509 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4510 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4511 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4512 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4513 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4514 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4515 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4520 @node Paging the Article
4521 @section Scrolling the Article
4522 @cindex article scrolling
4527 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4528 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4529 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4530 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4531 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4534 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4535 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4536 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4539 @kindex RET (Summary)
4540 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4541 Scroll the current article one line forward
4542 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4545 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4546 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4547 Scroll the current article one line backward
4548 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4552 @kindex A g (Summary)
4554 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4555 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4556 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4557 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4558 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4559 the way it came from the server.
4561 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4562 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4563 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4566 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4571 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4576 @kindex A < (Summary)
4577 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4578 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4579 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4584 @kindex A > (Summary)
4585 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4586 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4590 @kindex A s (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4593 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4594 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4598 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4599 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4604 @node Reply Followup and Post
4605 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4608 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4609 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4610 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4611 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4615 @node Summary Mail Commands
4616 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4618 @cindex composing mail
4620 Commands for composing a mail message:
4626 @kindex S r (Summary)
4628 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4629 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4630 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4631 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4632 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4637 @kindex S R (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4639 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4640 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4641 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4642 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4645 @kindex S w (Summary)
4646 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4647 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4648 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4649 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4650 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4653 @kindex S W (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4655 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4656 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4657 the process/prefix convention.
4660 @kindex S v (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4662 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4663 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4664 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4665 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4666 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4669 @kindex S W (Summary)
4670 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4671 Mail a very wide reply to the current article and include the original
4672 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4673 the process/prefix convention.
4677 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4678 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4680 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4681 Forward the current article to some other person
4682 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4683 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4684 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4685 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4686 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4687 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4688 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4689 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4690 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4695 @kindex S m (Summary)
4696 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4697 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4698 Send a mail to some other person
4699 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4702 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4704 @cindex bouncing mail
4705 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4706 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4707 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4708 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4709 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4710 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4711 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4712 very well fail, though.
4715 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4716 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4717 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4718 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4719 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4720 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4721 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4722 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4723 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4724 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4726 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4727 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4728 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4729 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4730 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4732 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4733 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4736 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4737 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4738 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4739 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4740 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4743 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4744 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4745 @cindex crossposting
4746 @cindex excessive crossposting
4747 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4748 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4750 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4751 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4752 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4753 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4754 command understands the process/prefix convention
4755 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4759 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4762 @node Summary Post Commands
4763 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4765 @cindex composing news
4767 Commands for posting a news article:
4773 @kindex S p (Summary)
4774 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4775 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4776 Post an article to the current group
4777 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4782 @kindex S f (Summary)
4783 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4784 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4785 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4789 @kindex S F (Summary)
4791 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4792 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4793 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4794 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4795 process/prefix convention.
4798 @kindex S n (Summary)
4799 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4800 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4801 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4804 @kindex S N (Summary)
4805 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4806 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4807 message through mail and include the original message
4808 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4809 the process/prefix convention.
4812 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4814 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4815 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4816 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4817 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4818 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4819 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4820 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4821 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4822 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4823 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4824 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4827 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4830 @cindex making digests
4831 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4832 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4833 process/prefix convention.
4836 @kindex S u (Summary)
4837 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4838 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4839 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4840 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4843 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4846 @node Summary Message Commands
4847 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4851 @kindex S y (Summary)
4852 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4853 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4854 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4855 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4856 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4861 @node Canceling and Superseding
4862 @subsection Canceling Articles
4863 @cindex canceling articles
4864 @cindex superseding articles
4866 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4867 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4869 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4871 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4873 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4874 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4875 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4876 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4877 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4878 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4880 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4881 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4884 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4885 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4886 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4888 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4889 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4890 your original article.
4892 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4894 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4895 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4896 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4899 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4900 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4901 have posted almost the same article twice.
4903 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4904 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4905 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4906 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4907 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4908 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4909 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4910 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4911 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4912 canceled/superseded.
4914 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4917 @node Marking Articles
4918 @section Marking Articles
4919 @cindex article marking
4920 @cindex article ticking
4923 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4925 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4926 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4927 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4929 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4932 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4933 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4934 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4938 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4942 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4943 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4944 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4948 @node Unread Articles
4949 @subsection Unread Articles
4951 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4956 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4957 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4959 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4960 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4961 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4962 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
4963 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
4964 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
4965 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
4968 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4969 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4971 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4972 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4973 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4974 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
4978 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4979 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4981 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4986 @subsection Read Articles
4987 @cindex expirable mark
4989 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4994 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4995 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4996 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4999 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5000 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5003 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5004 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5005 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5008 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5009 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5012 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5013 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5016 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5017 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5020 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5021 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5024 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5025 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5028 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5029 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5032 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5033 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5037 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5038 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5039 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5043 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5044 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5046 One more special mark, though:
5050 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5051 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5053 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5054 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5055 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5056 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5062 @subsection Other Marks
5063 @cindex process mark
5066 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5072 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5073 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5074 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5075 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5076 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5079 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5080 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5081 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5082 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5084 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5085 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{O} in
5086 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5089 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5090 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5091 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5094 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5095 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5096 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5097 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5100 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5101 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5102 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5103 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5104 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5107 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5108 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5109 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5110 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5111 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5112 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5116 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5117 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5118 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5120 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5121 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5122 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5126 @subsection Setting Marks
5127 @cindex setting marks
5129 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5134 @kindex M c (Summary)
5135 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5137 @cindex mark as unread
5138 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5139 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5145 @kindex M t (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5147 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5148 @xref{Article Caching}.
5153 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5155 Mark the current article as dormant
5156 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5160 @kindex M d (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5163 Mark the current article as read
5164 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5168 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5169 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5170 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5175 @kindex M k (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5177 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5178 and then select the next unread article
5179 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5183 @kindex M K (Summary)
5184 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5186 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5187 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5190 @kindex M C (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5192 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5193 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5196 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5198 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5199 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5202 @kindex M H (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5204 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5205 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5208 @kindex M h (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5210 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5214 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5216 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5217 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5220 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5221 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5222 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5223 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5227 @kindex M e (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5230 Mark the current article as expirable
5231 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5234 @kindex M b (Summary)
5235 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5236 Set a bookmark in the current article
5237 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5240 @kindex M B (Summary)
5241 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5242 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5243 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5246 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5247 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5248 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5249 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5252 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5253 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5254 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5255 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5258 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5259 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5260 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5261 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5262 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5265 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5266 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5267 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5268 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5269 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5270 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5271 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5272 The default is @code{t}.
5275 @node Generic Marking Commands
5276 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5278 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5279 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5280 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5281 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5282 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5285 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5286 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5289 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5290 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5291 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5292 to list in this manual.
5294 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5295 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5296 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5297 article, you could say something like:
5300 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5301 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5302 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5308 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5309 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5313 @node Setting Process Marks
5314 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5315 @cindex setting process marks
5322 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5324 Mark the current article with the process mark
5325 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5326 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5330 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5331 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5332 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5333 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5336 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5337 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5338 Remove the process mark from all articles
5339 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5342 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5344 Invert the list of process marked articles
5345 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5348 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5350 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5351 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5354 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5355 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5356 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5357 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5360 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5361 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5362 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5365 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5367 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5368 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5371 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5372 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5373 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5374 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5377 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5378 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5379 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5380 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5383 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5384 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5385 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5388 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5389 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5390 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5391 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5394 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5395 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5396 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5399 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5400 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5401 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5402 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5405 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5406 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5407 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5408 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5411 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5412 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5413 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5414 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5417 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5418 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5419 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5420 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5424 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5425 set process marks based on article body contents.
5432 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5433 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5434 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5437 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5438 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5439 additional articles.
5445 @kindex / / (Summary)
5446 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5447 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5448 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5451 @kindex / a (Summary)
5452 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5453 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5454 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5457 @kindex / x (Summary)
5458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5459 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5460 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5461 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5465 @kindex / u (Summary)
5467 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5468 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5469 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5470 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5471 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5474 @kindex / m (Summary)
5475 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5476 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5477 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5480 @kindex / t (Summary)
5481 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5482 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5483 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5484 articles younger than that number of days.
5487 @kindex / n (Summary)
5488 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5489 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5490 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5491 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5494 @kindex / w (Summary)
5495 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5496 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5497 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5501 @kindex / v (Summary)
5502 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5503 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5504 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5508 @kindex M S (Summary)
5509 @kindex / E (Summary)
5510 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5511 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5512 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5515 @kindex / D (Summary)
5516 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5517 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5518 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5521 @kindex / * (Summary)
5522 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5523 Include all cached articles in the limit
5524 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5527 @kindex / d (Summary)
5528 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5529 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5530 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5533 @kindex / M (Summary)
5534 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5535 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5538 @kindex / T (Summary)
5539 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5540 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5543 @kindex / c (Summary)
5544 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5545 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5546 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5549 @kindex / C (Summary)
5550 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5551 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5552 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5553 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5561 @cindex article threading
5563 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5564 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5565 hierarchical fashion.
5567 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5568 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5569 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5570 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5571 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5572 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5573 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5575 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5579 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5582 A tree-like article structure.
5585 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5588 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5589 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5590 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5591 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5592 called loose threads.
5594 @item thread gathering
5595 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5597 @item sparse threads
5598 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5599 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5605 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5606 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5610 @node Customizing Threading
5611 @subsection Customizing Threading
5612 @cindex customizing threading
5615 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5616 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5617 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5618 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5623 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5626 @cindex loose threads
5629 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5630 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5631 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5632 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5633 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5634 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5636 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5637 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5638 There are four possible values:
5642 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5643 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5644 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5645 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5646 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5651 @cindex adopting articles
5656 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5657 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5658 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5659 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5662 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5663 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5664 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5665 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5666 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5667 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5668 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5671 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5672 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5673 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5677 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5678 display them after one another.
5681 Don't gather loose threads.
5684 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5685 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5686 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5687 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5688 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5689 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5690 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5691 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5692 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5693 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5694 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5696 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5697 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5698 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5701 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5702 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5703 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5704 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5705 simplification is used.
5707 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5708 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5709 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5710 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5712 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5714 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5720 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5721 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5722 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5723 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5728 (mapconcat 'identity
5729 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5731 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5734 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5737 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5738 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5739 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5740 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5741 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5742 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5744 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5747 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5748 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5749 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5751 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5752 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5755 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5756 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5757 Remove excessive whitespace.
5760 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5763 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5764 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5765 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5766 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5767 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5768 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5769 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5770 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5772 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5773 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5774 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5775 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5776 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5777 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5778 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5779 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5780 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5784 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5785 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5786 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5787 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5789 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5790 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5791 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5794 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5798 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5799 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5805 @node Filling In Threads
5806 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5809 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5810 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5811 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5812 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5813 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5814 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5815 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5816 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5817 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5818 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5819 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5820 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5822 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5823 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5824 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5826 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5827 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5828 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5829 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5830 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5831 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5832 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5833 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5834 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5835 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5836 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5837 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5838 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5839 @code{nil} by default.
5841 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
5842 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
5843 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
5844 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the backend has to fetch
5845 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
5846 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
5847 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
5849 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
5850 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
5851 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
5856 @node More Threading
5857 @subsubsection More Threading
5860 @item gnus-show-threads
5861 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5862 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5863 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5864 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5865 slower and more awkward.
5867 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5868 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5869 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5872 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5873 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5874 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5875 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5876 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5877 threads are expunged.
5879 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5880 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5881 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5884 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5885 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5886 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5887 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
5888 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
5889 result in a new thread.
5891 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5892 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5893 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5896 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5897 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5898 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5899 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5900 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5901 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5902 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5903 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5904 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5905 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5906 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5911 @node Low-Level Threading
5912 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5916 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5917 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5918 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5920 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5921 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5922 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5923 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5924 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5925 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5926 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5927 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5928 meaningful. Here's one example:
5931 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5933 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5934 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5936 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5938 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5945 @node Thread Commands
5946 @subsection Thread Commands
5947 @cindex thread commands
5953 @kindex T k (Summary)
5954 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5956 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5957 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5958 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5963 @kindex T l (Summary)
5964 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5966 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5967 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5970 @kindex T i (Summary)
5971 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5972 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5973 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5976 @kindex T # (Summary)
5977 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5978 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5979 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5982 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5983 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5984 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5985 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5988 @kindex T T (Summary)
5989 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5990 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5993 @kindex T s (Summary)
5994 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5995 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5996 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5999 @kindex T h (Summary)
6000 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6001 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6004 @kindex T S (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6006 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6009 @kindex T H (Summary)
6010 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6011 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6014 @kindex T t (Summary)
6015 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6016 Re-thread the current article's thread
6017 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6018 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6021 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6022 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6023 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6024 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6028 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6029 understand the numeric prefix.
6034 @kindex T n (Summary)
6036 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
6038 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6039 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6040 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6043 @kindex T p (Summary)
6045 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
6047 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6048 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6049 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6052 @kindex T d (Summary)
6053 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6054 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6057 @kindex T u (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6059 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6062 @kindex T o (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6064 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6067 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6068 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6069 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6070 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6071 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6072 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6073 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6074 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6075 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6076 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6077 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6078 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6082 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6083 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6085 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6086 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6087 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6088 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6089 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6090 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6091 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6092 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6093 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6094 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6095 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6097 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6098 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6099 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6100 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6101 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6103 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6104 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6105 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6107 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6108 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6109 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6110 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6111 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6112 ascending article order.
6114 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6115 by number, you could do something like:
6118 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6119 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6120 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6121 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6124 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6125 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6126 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6127 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6128 which the articles arrived.
6130 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6134 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6136 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6137 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6140 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6141 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6142 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6143 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6146 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6147 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6148 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6149 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6150 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6151 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6152 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6153 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6154 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6155 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6156 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6157 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6158 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6160 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6164 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6165 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6166 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6171 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6172 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6173 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6174 @cindex article pre-fetch
6177 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6178 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6179 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6180 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6181 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6183 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6184 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6186 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6187 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6188 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6189 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6190 connection is blocked.
6192 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6193 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6194 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6195 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6197 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6198 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6199 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6200 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6203 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6206 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6207 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6208 happen automatically.
6210 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6211 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6212 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6213 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6214 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6215 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6216 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6218 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6219 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6220 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6221 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6222 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6223 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6224 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6225 data structure as the only parameter.
6227 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6230 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6231 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6232 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6233 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6236 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6239 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6240 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6241 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6243 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6244 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6245 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6246 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6250 Remove articles when they are read.
6253 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6256 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6258 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6259 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6260 @c from the next group.
6263 @node Article Caching
6264 @section Article Caching
6265 @cindex article caching
6268 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6269 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6270 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6271 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6272 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6274 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6276 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6277 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6278 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6279 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6280 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6281 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6282 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6283 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6285 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6286 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6287 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6288 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6289 as dormant, and don't worry.
6291 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6293 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6294 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6295 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6296 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6297 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6298 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6299 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6300 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6301 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6302 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6304 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6305 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6306 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6307 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6308 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6309 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6310 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6311 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6312 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6313 not then be downloaded by this command.
6315 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6316 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6317 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6318 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6319 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6320 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6322 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6323 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6324 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6325 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6326 variables, the group is not cached.
6328 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6329 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6330 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6331 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6332 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6333 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6334 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6335 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6336 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6340 @node Persistent Articles
6341 @section Persistent Articles
6342 @cindex persistent articles
6344 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6345 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6346 useful in my opinion.
6348 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6349 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6350 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6351 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6352 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6353 the expiry going on at the news server.
6355 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6356 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6357 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6363 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6364 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6367 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6369 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6370 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6374 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6376 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6377 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6378 interested in persistent articles:
6381 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6385 @node Article Backlog
6386 @section Article Backlog
6388 @cindex article backlog
6390 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6391 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6392 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6393 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6394 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6395 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6396 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6397 increase memory usage some.
6399 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6400 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6401 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6402 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6403 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6404 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6405 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6407 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6410 @node Saving Articles
6411 @section Saving Articles
6412 @cindex saving articles
6414 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6415 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6416 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6417 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6418 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6420 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6421 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6422 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6424 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6425 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6426 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6427 deleted before saving.
6433 @kindex O o (Summary)
6435 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6436 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6437 Save the current article using the default article saver
6438 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6441 @kindex O m (Summary)
6442 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6443 Save the current article in mail format
6444 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6447 @kindex O r (Summary)
6448 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6449 Save the current article in rmail format
6450 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6453 @kindex O f (Summary)
6454 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6455 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6456 Save the current article in plain file format
6457 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6460 @kindex O F (Summary)
6461 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6462 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6463 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6466 @kindex O b (Summary)
6467 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6468 Save the current article body in plain file format
6469 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6472 @kindex O h (Summary)
6473 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6474 Save the current article in mh folder format
6475 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6478 @kindex O v (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6480 Save the current article in a VM folder
6481 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6485 @kindex O p (Summary)
6487 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6488 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6489 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6492 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6493 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6494 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6495 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6496 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6497 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6498 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6499 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6500 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6501 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6502 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6503 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6507 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6508 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6509 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6510 functions below, or you can create your own.
6514 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6515 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6516 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6517 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6518 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6519 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6520 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6522 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6523 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6524 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6525 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6526 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6527 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6529 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6530 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6531 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6532 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6533 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6534 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6535 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6537 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6538 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6539 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6540 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6541 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6543 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6544 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6545 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6546 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6547 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6550 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6551 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6552 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6553 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6554 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6556 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6557 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6558 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6559 reader to use this setting.
6562 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6563 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6564 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6565 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6568 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6569 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6570 available functions that generate names:
6574 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6575 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6576 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6578 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6579 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6580 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6582 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6583 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6584 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6586 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6587 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6588 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6590 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6591 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6592 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6595 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6596 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6597 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6598 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6599 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6603 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6604 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6605 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6606 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6609 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6610 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6611 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6612 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6613 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6614 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6615 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6616 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6617 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6619 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6620 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6621 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6622 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6624 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6625 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6626 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6629 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6630 lots of mail groups called things like
6631 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6632 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6633 following will do just that:
6636 (defun my-save-name (group)
6637 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6638 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6640 (setq gnus-split-methods
6641 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6646 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6647 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6648 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6649 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6650 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6651 all the files in the top level directory
6652 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6653 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6654 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6655 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6657 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6658 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6659 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6660 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6661 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6664 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6668 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6669 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
6670 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6673 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6674 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6675 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6676 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6679 @node Decoding Articles
6680 @section Decoding Articles
6681 @cindex decoding articles
6683 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6684 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6687 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6688 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6689 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6690 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6691 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6692 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6696 @cindex article series
6697 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6698 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6699 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6700 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6701 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6703 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6704 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6705 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6707 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6708 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6709 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6711 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6712 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6713 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6716 @node Uuencoded Articles
6717 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6719 @cindex uuencoded articles
6724 @kindex X u (Summary)
6725 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6726 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6727 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6730 @kindex X U (Summary)
6731 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6732 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6733 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6736 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6737 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6738 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6741 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6742 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6743 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6744 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6748 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6749 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6750 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6751 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6752 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6754 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6755 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6756 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6757 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6760 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6761 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6762 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6763 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6764 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6765 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6769 @node Shell Archives
6770 @subsection Shell Archives
6772 @cindex shell archives
6773 @cindex shared articles
6775 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6776 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6777 some commands to deal with these:
6782 @kindex X s (Summary)
6783 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6784 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6787 @kindex X S (Summary)
6788 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6789 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6792 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6793 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6794 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6797 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6798 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6799 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6800 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6804 @node PostScript Files
6805 @subsection PostScript Files
6811 @kindex X p (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6813 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6816 @kindex X P (Summary)
6817 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6818 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6819 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6822 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6824 View the current PostScript series
6825 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6828 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6829 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6830 View and save the current PostScript series
6831 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6836 @subsection Other Files
6840 @kindex X o (Summary)
6841 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6842 Save the current series
6843 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6846 @kindex X b (Summary)
6847 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6848 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6849 doesn't really work yet.
6853 @node Decoding Variables
6854 @subsection Decoding Variables
6856 Adjective, not verb.
6859 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6860 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6861 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6865 @node Rule Variables
6866 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6867 @cindex rule variables
6869 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6870 variables are of the form
6873 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6880 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6881 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6883 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6884 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6887 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6888 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6891 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6892 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6893 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6894 user and default view rules.
6896 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6897 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6898 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6903 @node Other Decode Variables
6904 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6907 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6909 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6910 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6911 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6912 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6913 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6917 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6918 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6921 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6922 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6923 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6926 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6927 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6928 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6929 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6930 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6933 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6934 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6935 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6937 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6938 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6939 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6940 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6941 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6944 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6945 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6946 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6948 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6949 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6950 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6951 looking for files to display.
6953 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6954 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6955 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6958 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6959 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6960 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6963 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6964 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6965 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6968 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6969 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6970 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6973 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6974 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6975 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6976 decoded articles as unread.
6978 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6979 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6980 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6981 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6983 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6984 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6985 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6987 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6988 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6990 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6991 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6992 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6993 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6995 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6996 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6997 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6998 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6999 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7000 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7001 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7002 simply dropped them.
7007 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7008 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7012 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7013 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7014 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7015 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7016 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7017 for you when you post the article.
7019 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7020 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7021 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7022 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7024 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7025 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7026 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7027 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7028 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7029 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7030 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7032 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7033 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7034 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7035 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7036 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7037 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7038 Default is @code{t}.
7044 @subsection Viewing Files
7045 @cindex viewing files
7046 @cindex pseudo-articles
7048 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7049 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7050 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7051 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7052 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7053 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7054 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7056 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7057 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7058 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7059 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7061 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7062 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7063 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7065 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7066 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7067 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7068 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7069 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7071 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7072 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7073 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7074 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7075 a list of parameters to that command.
7077 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7078 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7079 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7081 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7082 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7083 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7086 @node Article Treatment
7087 @section Article Treatment
7089 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7090 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7091 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7092 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7093 these articles easier.
7096 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7097 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7098 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7099 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7100 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7101 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7102 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7103 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7107 @node Article Highlighting
7108 @subsection Article Highlighting
7109 @cindex highlighting
7111 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7112 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7117 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7118 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7119 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7120 Do much highlighting of the current article
7121 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7122 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7125 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7126 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7127 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7128 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7129 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7130 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7131 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7132 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7133 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7134 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7135 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7136 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7139 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7140 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7141 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7143 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7146 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7148 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7149 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7150 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7152 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7153 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7154 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7156 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7157 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7158 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7159 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7160 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7161 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7163 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7164 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7165 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7167 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7168 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7169 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7171 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7172 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7173 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7174 that it's a citation.
7176 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7177 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7178 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7180 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7181 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7182 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7184 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7185 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7186 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7187 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7193 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7194 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7195 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7196 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7197 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7198 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7199 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7200 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7205 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7208 @node Article Fontisizing
7209 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7211 @cindex article emphasis
7213 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7214 @kindex W e (Summary)
7215 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7216 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7217 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7218 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7220 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7221 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7222 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7223 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7224 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7225 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7226 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7227 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7231 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7232 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7233 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7242 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7243 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7244 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7245 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7246 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7247 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7248 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7249 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7250 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7251 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7252 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7253 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7254 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7256 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7257 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7258 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7262 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7265 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7267 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7268 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7269 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7270 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7272 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7275 @node Article Hiding
7276 @subsection Article Hiding
7277 @cindex article hiding
7279 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7280 too much cruft in most articles.
7285 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-article-hide
7287 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7288 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7289 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7292 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7293 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7294 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7298 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7299 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7300 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7301 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7304 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7305 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7306 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7310 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7311 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7312 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7313 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7314 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7315 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7316 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7317 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7321 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7322 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7323 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7324 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7329 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7330 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7331 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7332 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7333 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7334 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7335 articles that have signatures in them do:
7337 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7339 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7341 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7342 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7344 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7347 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7352 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7354 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7355 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7358 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7362 @cindex stripping advertisements
7363 @cindex advertisements
7364 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7365 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7366 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7367 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7368 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7369 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7370 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7371 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7372 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7373 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7377 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7378 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7379 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7380 customizing the hiding:
7384 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7385 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7386 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7387 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7388 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7389 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7390 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7395 Starting point of the hidden text.
7397 Ending point of the hidden text.
7399 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7401 Number of lines of hidden text.
7404 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7405 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7406 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7407 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7408 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7413 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7416 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7417 following two variables:
7420 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7421 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7422 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7423 50), hide the cited text.
7425 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7426 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7427 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7432 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7433 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7434 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7435 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7436 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7437 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7441 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7442 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7443 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7445 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7446 citation customization.
7448 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7452 @node Article Washing
7453 @subsection Article Washing
7455 @cindex article washing
7457 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7458 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7460 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7461 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7464 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7465 articles by default.
7470 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7471 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7475 @kindex W l (Summary)
7476 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7477 Remove page breaks from the current article
7478 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7482 @kindex W r (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7484 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7485 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7486 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7487 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7488 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7490 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7491 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7492 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7493 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7497 @kindex W t (Summary)
7499 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7500 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7501 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7504 @kindex W v (Summary)
7505 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7506 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7507 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7510 @kindex W o (Summary)
7511 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7512 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7515 @kindex W d (Summary)
7516 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7517 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7519 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7521 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7522 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7523 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7524 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7527 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7528 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7529 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7530 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7533 @kindex W w (Summary)
7534 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7535 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7537 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7541 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7542 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7543 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7546 @kindex W C (Summary)
7547 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7548 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7549 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7552 @kindex W c (Summary)
7553 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7554 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7555 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7556 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7557 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7560 @kindex W q (Summary)
7561 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7562 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7563 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7564 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7565 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7566 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7567 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7568 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7569 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7572 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7573 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7574 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7575 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7576 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7577 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7578 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7580 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7583 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7584 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7585 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7586 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7587 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7590 @kindex W h (Summary)
7591 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7592 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7593 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7594 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7596 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7599 @kindex W f (Summary)
7601 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7602 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7603 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7604 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7611 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7612 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7613 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7614 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7615 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7616 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7617 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7618 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7619 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7620 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7621 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7622 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7623 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7624 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7625 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7626 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7627 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7628 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7629 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7630 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7634 @kindex W b (Summary)
7635 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7636 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7637 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7640 @kindex W B (Summary)
7641 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7642 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7643 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7646 @kindex W p (Summary)
7647 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
7648 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
7649 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
7650 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
7651 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
7652 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
7653 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
7656 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7657 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7658 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7659 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7662 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7663 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7664 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7665 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7668 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7670 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7671 lines with a single empty line.
7672 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7675 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7676 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7677 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7678 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7681 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7682 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7683 Do all the three commands above
7684 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7687 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7688 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7689 Remove all blank lines
7690 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7693 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7694 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7695 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7696 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7699 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7700 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7701 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7702 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7706 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7709 @node Article Buttons
7710 @subsection Article Buttons
7713 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7714 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7715 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7716 button on these references.
7718 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7719 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7720 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7725 @item gnus-button-alist
7726 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7727 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7730 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7736 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7737 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7738 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7741 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7742 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7743 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7746 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7747 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7748 avoid false matches.
7751 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7754 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7755 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7759 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7762 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7765 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7766 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7767 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7768 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7769 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7772 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7775 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7777 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7778 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7779 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7780 default values of the variables above.
7782 @item gnus-article-button-face
7783 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7784 Face used on buttons.
7786 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7787 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7788 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7792 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7796 @subsection Article Date
7798 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7799 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7800 when the article was sent.
7805 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7806 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7807 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7808 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7811 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7812 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7814 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7815 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7818 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7819 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7820 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7823 @kindex W T p (Summary)
7824 @findex gnus-article-date-english
7825 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
7826 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
7829 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7830 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7831 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7832 @findex format-time-string
7833 Display the date using a user-defined format
7834 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7835 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7836 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7837 for a list of possible format specs.
7840 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7841 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7842 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7843 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7844 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7845 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7848 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
7851 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7852 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7855 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7856 into wonderful absurdities.
7858 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7861 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7864 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7865 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7869 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7870 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7871 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7872 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7873 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7874 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7875 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7879 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7880 preferred format automatically.
7883 @node Article Signature
7884 @subsection Article Signature
7886 @cindex article signature
7888 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7889 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7890 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7891 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7892 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7893 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7894 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7895 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7896 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7899 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7900 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7901 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7902 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7903 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7904 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7905 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7906 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7909 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7912 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7913 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7914 signature when displaying articles.
7918 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7921 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7924 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7925 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7927 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7928 in question is not a signature.
7931 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7932 listed above. Here's an example:
7935 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7936 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7939 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7940 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7941 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7942 signature after all.
7945 @node Article Miscellania
7946 @subsection Article Miscellania
7950 @kindex A t (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-article-babel
7952 Translate the article from one language to another
7953 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7959 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7960 @cindex MIME decoding
7962 @cindex viewing attachments
7964 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7965 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7971 @kindex K v (Summary)
7972 View the @sc{mime} part.
7975 @kindex K o (Summary)
7976 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7979 @kindex K c (Summary)
7980 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7983 @kindex K e (Summary)
7984 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7987 @kindex K i (Summary)
7988 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7991 @kindex K | (Summary)
7992 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7995 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8000 @kindex K b (Summary)
8001 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8002 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8006 @kindex K m (Summary)
8007 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8008 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8009 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8010 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8011 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8014 @kindex X m (Summary)
8015 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8016 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8017 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8018 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8021 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8022 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8023 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8024 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8027 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8028 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8029 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8032 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8033 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8034 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8036 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8037 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8038 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8039 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8040 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8041 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8044 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8045 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8046 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8053 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8054 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8055 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8056 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8059 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8062 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8066 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8067 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8068 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8069 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8070 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
8072 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8073 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8074 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8075 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8076 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8077 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8078 save all jpegs into some directory).
8080 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8083 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8084 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8086 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8087 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8088 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8089 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8090 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8093 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8094 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8095 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8097 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8098 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8099 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8100 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8102 Ready-made functions include@*
8103 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8104 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8105 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8106 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8107 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8108 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8109 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8110 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8111 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8112 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8113 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8114 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8116 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8117 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8119 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8120 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8121 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8124 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8125 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8126 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8127 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8131 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8140 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8141 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8142 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8143 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8144 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8145 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8146 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8148 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8149 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8150 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match full group names) and
8151 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8153 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8154 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
8155 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8156 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8157 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
8158 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8159 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
8160 something some agents insist on having in there.
8162 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8163 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8164 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8165 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8166 quoted-printable header encoding.
8168 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8169 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8170 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8174 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8177 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8178 means encode all charsets),
8180 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8181 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8182 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8189 @cindex coding system aliases
8190 @cindex preferred charset
8192 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8194 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8195 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8198 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8199 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8202 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8203 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8205 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8208 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8211 This will almost do the right thing.
8213 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8217 (codepage-setup 1251)
8218 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8222 @node Article Commands
8223 @section Article Commands
8230 @kindex A P (Summary)
8231 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8232 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8233 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8234 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8235 run just before printing the buffer.
8240 @node Summary Sorting
8241 @section Summary Sorting
8242 @cindex summary sorting
8244 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8245 can't really see why you'd want that.
8250 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8251 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8252 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8255 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8256 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8257 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8260 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8261 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8262 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8265 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8266 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8267 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8270 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8271 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8272 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8275 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8276 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8277 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8280 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8281 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8282 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8285 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8286 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8287 Sort using the default sorting method
8288 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8291 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8292 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8293 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8294 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8295 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8299 @node Finding the Parent
8300 @section Finding the Parent
8301 @cindex parent articles
8302 @cindex referring articles
8307 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8308 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8309 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8310 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8311 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8312 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8313 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8314 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8315 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8317 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8318 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8319 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8320 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8321 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8325 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8326 @kindex A R (Summary)
8327 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8328 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8331 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8332 @kindex A T (Summary)
8333 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8334 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8335 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8336 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8337 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8338 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8339 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8341 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8342 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8343 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8344 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8345 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8346 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8349 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8350 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8352 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8353 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8354 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8355 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8356 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8357 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8358 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8361 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8362 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8363 by giving this command a prefix.
8365 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8366 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8367 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8368 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8369 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8370 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8373 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8374 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8375 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8378 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8379 then ask Deja if that fails:
8382 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8384 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8387 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8388 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8389 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8390 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8391 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8392 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8395 @node Alternative Approaches
8396 @section Alternative Approaches
8398 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8399 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8402 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8403 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8408 @subsection Pick and Read
8409 @cindex pick and read
8411 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8412 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8413 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8414 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8416 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8417 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8418 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8419 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8420 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8421 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8423 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8428 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8429 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8430 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8431 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8432 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8433 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8434 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8435 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8438 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8439 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8440 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8441 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8445 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8446 Unpick the thread or article
8447 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8448 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8449 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8450 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8451 the thread or article at that line.
8455 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8456 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8457 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8458 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8459 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8460 will still be visible when you are reading.
8464 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8465 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8466 which is mapped to the same function
8467 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8469 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8472 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8475 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8476 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8478 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8479 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8480 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8482 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8483 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8484 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8485 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8486 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8487 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8488 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8492 @subsection Binary Groups
8493 @cindex binary groups
8495 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8496 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8497 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8498 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8499 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8500 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8501 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8504 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8505 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8506 command, when you have turned on this mode
8507 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8509 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8510 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8514 @section Tree Display
8517 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8518 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8519 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8520 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8523 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8526 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8527 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8528 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8530 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8531 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8532 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8533 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8534 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8536 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8537 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8538 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8539 default is @code{modeline}.
8541 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8542 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8543 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8544 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8545 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8546 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8547 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8553 The name of the poster.
8555 The @code{From} header.
8557 The number of the article.
8559 The opening bracket.
8561 The closing bracket.
8566 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8568 Variables related to the display are:
8571 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8572 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8573 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8574 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8575 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8576 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8578 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8579 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8580 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8581 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8585 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8586 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8587 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8588 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8589 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8590 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8591 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8592 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8593 other windows displayed next to it.
8595 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8596 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8597 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8598 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8599 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8600 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8601 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8605 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8608 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8618 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8622 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8623 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8625 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8627 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8632 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8633 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8634 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8637 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8638 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8639 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8640 (gnus-add-configuration
8644 (summary 0.75 point)
8649 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8652 @node Mail Group Commands
8653 @section Mail Group Commands
8654 @cindex mail group commands
8656 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8657 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8659 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8660 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8665 @kindex B e (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8667 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
8668 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
8669 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
8670 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
8673 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8674 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8675 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8676 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8677 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8678 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8681 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8682 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8683 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8684 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8685 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8686 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8689 @kindex B m (Summary)
8691 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8692 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8693 Move the article from one mail group to another
8694 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8695 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8698 @kindex B c (Summary)
8700 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8701 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8702 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8703 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8704 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8707 @kindex B B (Summary)
8708 @cindex crosspost mail
8709 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8710 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8711 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8712 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8713 be properly updated.
8716 @kindex B i (Summary)
8717 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8718 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8719 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8720 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8723 @kindex B r (Summary)
8724 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8725 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8726 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8727 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8728 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8729 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8730 (which is the default).
8734 @kindex B w (Summary)
8736 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8737 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8738 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8739 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8740 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8741 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8744 @kindex B q (Summary)
8745 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8746 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8747 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8748 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8751 @kindex B t (Summary)
8752 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8753 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8754 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8757 @kindex B p (Summary)
8758 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8759 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8760 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8761 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8762 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8763 article from your news server (or rather, from
8764 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8765 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8766 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8767 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8768 just not have arrived yet.
8772 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8773 @cindex moving articles
8774 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8775 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8776 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8777 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8778 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
8779 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
8780 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
8783 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8784 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8785 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8786 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8790 @node Various Summary Stuff
8791 @section Various Summary Stuff
8794 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8795 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8796 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8797 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8801 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8802 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8803 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8805 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8806 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8807 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8808 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8809 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8810 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8813 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8814 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8815 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8816 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8817 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8819 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8820 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8821 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8824 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8825 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8826 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8827 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8828 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8829 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8830 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8831 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8832 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8833 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8835 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8836 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8837 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8838 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8839 list of articles to be selected.
8841 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8842 the list in one particular group:
8845 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8846 (if (string= group "some.group")
8847 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8854 @node Summary Group Information
8855 @subsection Summary Group Information
8860 @kindex H f (Summary)
8861 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8862 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8863 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8864 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8865 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8866 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8867 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8868 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8869 be used for fetching the file.
8872 @kindex H d (Summary)
8873 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8874 Give a brief description of the current group
8875 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8876 rereading the description from the server.
8879 @kindex H h (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8881 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8882 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8885 @kindex H i (Summary)
8886 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8887 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8891 @node Searching for Articles
8892 @subsection Searching for Articles
8897 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8898 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8899 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8900 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8903 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8904 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8905 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8906 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8910 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8911 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8912 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8913 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8914 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8915 search backward instead.
8917 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8918 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8921 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8922 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8923 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8924 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8927 @node Summary Generation Commands
8928 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8933 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8934 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8935 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8938 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8939 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8940 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8941 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8946 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8947 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8953 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8954 @kindex A D (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8956 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8957 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8958 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8959 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8960 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8961 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8962 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8966 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8967 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8968 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8969 several documents into one biiig group
8970 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8971 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8972 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8973 command understands the process/prefix convention
8974 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8977 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8979 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8980 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8981 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8982 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8986 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8987 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8988 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8991 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8992 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8993 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8994 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8997 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8998 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8999 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9000 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9005 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9006 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9007 @cindex summary exit
9008 @cindex exiting groups
9010 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9011 group and return you to the group buffer.
9017 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9019 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9020 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9021 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9022 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9023 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9024 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9025 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9026 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9027 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9028 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9029 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9033 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9035 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9036 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9037 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9041 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9043 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9044 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9045 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9046 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9049 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9050 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9051 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9052 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9055 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9056 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9057 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9058 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9061 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9062 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9063 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9064 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9065 all articles, both read and unread.
9069 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9070 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9071 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9072 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9073 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9074 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9075 articles, both read and unread.
9078 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9079 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9080 Exit the group and go to the next group
9081 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9084 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9085 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9086 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9087 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9090 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9091 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9092 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9093 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9094 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9095 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9098 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9099 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9100 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9101 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9103 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9104 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9105 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9106 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9107 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9108 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9109 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9110 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9111 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9112 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9113 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9114 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9116 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9118 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9119 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9120 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9121 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9122 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9123 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9124 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9125 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9126 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9129 @node Crosspost Handling
9130 @section Crosspost Handling
9134 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9135 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9136 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9137 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9138 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9139 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9142 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9143 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9144 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9145 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9146 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9148 @cindex cross-posting
9151 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9152 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9153 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9154 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9155 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9156 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9157 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9158 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9159 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9160 the cross reference mechanism.
9162 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9163 @cindex overview.fmt
9164 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9165 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9166 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9167 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9168 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9169 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9172 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9173 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9174 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9179 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9182 @node Duplicate Suppression
9183 @section Duplicate Suppression
9185 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9186 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9187 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9188 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9193 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9194 is evil and not very common.
9197 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9198 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9201 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9202 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9205 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9208 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9209 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9211 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9212 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9213 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9214 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9215 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9216 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9217 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9220 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9221 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9222 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9223 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9224 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9228 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9229 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9230 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9232 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9233 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9234 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9235 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9236 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9237 session are suppressed.
9239 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9240 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9241 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9242 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9244 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9245 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9246 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9247 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9250 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9251 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9252 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9253 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9254 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9255 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9256 to you to figure out, I think.
9261 Gnus is able to verify PGP or S/MIME signed messages or decrypt PGP
9266 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9272 @item mm-verify-option
9273 @vindex mm-verify-option
9274 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9275 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9276 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9278 @item mm-decrypt-option
9279 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9280 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9281 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9282 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9286 @node Article Buffer
9287 @chapter Article Buffer
9288 @cindex article buffer
9290 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9291 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9292 tell Gnus otherwise.
9295 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9296 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9297 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9298 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9299 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9303 @node Hiding Headers
9304 @section Hiding Headers
9305 @cindex hiding headers
9306 @cindex deleting headers
9308 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9309 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9311 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9312 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9313 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9314 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9315 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9316 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9317 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9318 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9319 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9321 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9325 @item gnus-visible-headers
9326 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9327 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9328 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9329 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9331 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9332 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9335 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9338 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9341 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9342 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9343 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9344 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9345 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9346 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9348 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9349 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9352 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9355 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9358 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9359 variable will have no effect.
9363 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9364 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9365 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9366 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9367 the headers are to be displayed.
9369 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9370 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9373 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9376 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9377 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9379 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9380 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9381 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9382 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9383 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9384 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9385 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9388 These conditions are:
9391 Remove all empty headers.
9393 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9394 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9396 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9399 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9402 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9403 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9405 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9408 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9410 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9413 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9416 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9417 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9420 This is also the default value for this variable.
9424 @section Using @sc{mime}
9427 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9428 while people stand around yawning.
9430 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9431 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9433 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9434 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9435 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9437 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9438 @findex gnus-display-mime
9439 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9440 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9441 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9442 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9444 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9448 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9450 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9451 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9452 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9454 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9455 @item M-RET (Article)
9457 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9458 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9460 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9462 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9463 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9465 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
9467 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9468 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
9470 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9472 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9473 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9475 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
9477 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
9478 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
9479 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
9480 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
9481 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
9482 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
9484 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9486 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9487 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9489 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9491 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9492 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9493 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9494 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9495 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9498 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
9500 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
9501 viewer is available, use an external viewer
9502 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
9504 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
9506 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
9507 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
9509 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9511 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9513 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9515 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9516 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9520 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9521 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9524 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9525 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9526 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9527 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9528 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9529 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9530 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9531 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9532 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9534 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9536 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9539 @node Customizing Articles
9540 @section Customizing Articles
9541 @cindex article customization
9543 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9544 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9545 called automatically when you select the articles.
9547 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9548 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9549 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9550 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9552 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9553 for sensible values.
9557 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9560 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9563 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9566 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9569 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9573 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9574 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9575 regexps in the list.
9578 A list where the first element is not a string:
9580 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9581 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9582 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9586 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9591 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9592 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9593 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9594 considered to contain just a single part.
9596 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9597 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9598 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9599 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9600 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9601 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9602 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9604 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9605 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9606 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9607 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9610 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9611 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9612 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9613 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9614 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9615 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9616 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9617 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9618 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9619 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9620 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
9621 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9622 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
9623 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9624 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9625 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9626 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9627 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9628 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9629 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9630 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9631 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9632 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9633 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
9634 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9635 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9636 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9637 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9638 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9639 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9640 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9641 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9642 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9643 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9644 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9645 @item gnus-treat-translate
9648 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9649 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9650 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9651 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9652 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9656 @node Article Keymap
9657 @section Article Keymap
9659 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9660 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9661 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9662 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9665 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9670 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9671 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9672 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9675 @kindex DEL (Article)
9676 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9677 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9680 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9681 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9682 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9683 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9684 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9687 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9688 @findex gnus-article-mail
9689 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9690 given a prefix, include the mail.
9694 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9695 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9696 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9700 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9701 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9702 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9705 @kindex TAB (Article)
9706 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9707 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9708 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9711 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9712 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9713 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9719 @section Misc Article
9723 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9724 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9725 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9726 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9729 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9730 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9732 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9733 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9735 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9736 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9737 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9738 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9739 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9740 the contents of the article buffer.
9742 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9743 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9744 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9746 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9747 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9748 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9749 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9751 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9752 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9753 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9754 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9755 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9760 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9761 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9764 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9767 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9769 @item gnus-break-pages
9770 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9771 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9772 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9773 paging will not be done.
9775 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9776 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9777 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9782 @node Composing Messages
9783 @chapter Composing Messages
9784 @cindex composing messages
9787 @cindex sending mail
9793 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9794 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9795 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9796 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9797 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9798 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9801 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9802 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9803 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9804 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9805 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9806 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9807 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9808 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9811 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9812 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9818 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9821 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9822 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9823 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9824 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9826 @item gnus-add-to-list
9827 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9828 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9829 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9834 @node Posting Server
9835 @section Posting Server
9837 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9838 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9840 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9842 @vindex gnus-post-method
9844 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
9845 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
9846 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
9847 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
9848 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9849 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9850 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9853 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9856 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9857 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9858 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9859 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
9861 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9862 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9864 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9865 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9868 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
9869 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
9873 @section Mail and Post
9875 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9879 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9880 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9881 @cindex mailing lists
9883 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9884 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9885 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9886 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9887 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9888 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9889 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9890 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9891 still a pain, though.
9895 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9896 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9897 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9900 @findex ispell-message
9902 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9905 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9906 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9909 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9913 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
9914 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9916 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9919 Modify to suit your needs.
9922 @node Archived Messages
9923 @section Archived Messages
9924 @cindex archived messages
9925 @cindex sent messages
9927 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9928 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9929 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9930 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9933 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9934 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9935 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9939 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9940 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9941 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9942 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9945 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9946 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
9947 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9948 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9951 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9952 '(nnfolder "archive"
9953 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9954 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9955 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9958 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9960 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9961 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9962 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9964 This variable can be used to do the following:
9968 Messages will be saved in that group.
9970 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9971 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9972 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9973 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9974 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9975 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9976 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9977 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9979 @item a list of strings
9980 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9981 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9982 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9984 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9989 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9991 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9994 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9996 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9999 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10001 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10002 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10003 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10004 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10007 More complex stuff:
10009 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10010 '((if (message-news-p)
10015 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10016 messages in one file per month:
10019 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10020 '((if (message-news-p)
10022 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10025 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10026 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10028 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10029 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10030 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10031 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10032 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10033 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10034 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10035 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10036 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10037 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10039 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10040 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10041 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10042 this will disable archiving.
10045 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10046 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10047 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10048 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10049 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10052 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10053 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10054 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10057 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10058 but the latter is the preferred method.
10060 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10061 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10062 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10067 @node Posting Styles
10068 @section Posting Styles
10069 @cindex posting styles
10072 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10074 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10075 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10076 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10079 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10080 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10081 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10082 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10083 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10088 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10089 (organization "What me?"))
10091 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10092 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10093 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10096 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10097 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10098 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10099 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10100 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10101 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10102 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10103 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10105 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10106 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10107 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10108 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10109 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10110 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10111 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10112 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10113 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10115 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10116 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10117 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10118 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10119 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10120 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10121 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10122 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10123 result is thrown away.
10125 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10126 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10127 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10128 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10129 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10130 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10132 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10133 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10134 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10136 @findex message-mail-p
10137 @findex message-news-p
10139 So here's a new example:
10142 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10144 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10146 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10147 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10149 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10150 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10151 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10153 (signature my-news-signature))
10154 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10155 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10156 ((posting-from-work-p)
10157 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10158 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10159 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10160 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10162 (From (save-excursion
10163 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10164 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10166 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10169 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10170 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10171 if you fill many roles.
10178 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10179 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10180 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10181 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10182 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10184 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10185 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10186 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10187 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10188 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10192 @vindex nndraft-directory
10193 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10194 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10195 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10196 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10197 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10198 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10200 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10201 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10204 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10205 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10206 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10207 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10208 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10209 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10210 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10211 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10212 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10213 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10214 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10215 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10216 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10217 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10219 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10220 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10221 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10223 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10224 @kindex D e (Draft)
10225 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10226 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10227 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10229 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10232 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10233 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10234 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10235 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10236 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10237 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10238 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10241 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10242 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10243 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10246 @node Rejected Articles
10247 @section Rejected Articles
10248 @cindex rejected articles
10250 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10251 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10252 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10253 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10255 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10256 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10257 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10258 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10259 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10261 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10262 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10263 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10269 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10270 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10271 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10273 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10274 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10278 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10279 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10282 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10283 to 700, for your own safety.
10285 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10286 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10290 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10293 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10294 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10297 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10300 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10301 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{C-c
10302 C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{C-c C-m c
10303 p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c C-m c s} to
10304 encrypt using S/MIME.
10306 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10307 you've typed it correctly.
10309 @node Select Methods
10310 @chapter Select Methods
10311 @cindex foreign groups
10312 @cindex select methods
10314 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10315 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10316 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10317 personal mail group.
10319 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10320 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10321 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10322 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10323 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10324 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10326 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10327 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10329 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10332 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10333 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10334 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10335 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10336 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10338 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10341 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10342 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10343 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10344 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10345 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10346 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10347 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10351 @node Server Buffer
10352 @section Server Buffer
10354 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10355 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10356 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10357 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10358 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10359 backend represents a virtual server.
10361 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10362 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10363 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10364 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10366 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10367 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10368 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10369 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10370 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10371 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10372 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10374 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10375 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10378 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10379 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10380 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10381 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10382 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10383 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10384 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10387 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10388 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10391 @node Server Buffer Format
10392 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10393 @cindex server buffer format
10395 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10396 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10397 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10398 variable, with some simple extensions:
10403 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10406 The name of this server.
10409 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10412 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10415 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10416 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10417 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10418 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10428 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10431 @node Server Commands
10432 @subsection Server Commands
10433 @cindex server commands
10439 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10440 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10444 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10445 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10448 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10449 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10450 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10454 @findex gnus-server-exit
10455 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10459 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10460 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10464 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10465 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10469 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10470 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10474 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10475 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10479 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10480 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10481 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10486 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10487 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10488 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10489 a mail backend that has gotten out of sync.
10494 @node Example Methods
10495 @subsection Example Methods
10497 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10500 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10503 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10509 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10510 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10513 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10514 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10516 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10517 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10521 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10524 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10525 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10527 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10528 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10529 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10533 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10536 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10539 Here's the method for a public spool:
10543 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10544 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10550 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10551 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10552 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10553 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10554 should probably look something like this:
10558 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
10559 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
10560 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
10561 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
10564 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10565 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
10566 configuration to the example above:
10569 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
10572 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
10573 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
10574 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
10578 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
10579 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
10580 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
10581 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
10584 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10585 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10586 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10587 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10590 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10591 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10593 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10594 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10596 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10597 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10598 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10600 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10602 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10603 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10604 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10605 will contain the following:
10615 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10616 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10617 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10620 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10621 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10622 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10625 @node Server Variables
10626 @subsection Server Variables
10628 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10629 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10630 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10631 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10632 won't change the "derived" variables.
10634 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10635 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10636 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10637 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10638 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10639 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10640 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10641 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10642 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10646 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10647 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10648 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10652 @node Servers and Methods
10653 @subsection Servers and Methods
10655 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10656 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10657 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10658 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10662 @node Unavailable Servers
10663 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10665 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10666 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10667 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10668 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10669 actually the case or not.
10671 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10672 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10673 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10674 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10675 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10676 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10677 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10678 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10680 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10681 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10683 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
10684 with the following commands:
10690 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10691 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10692 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10696 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10697 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10698 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10702 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10703 Mark the current server as unreachable
10704 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10707 @kindex M-o (Server)
10708 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10709 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10710 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10713 @kindex M-c (Server)
10714 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10715 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10716 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10720 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10721 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10722 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10728 @section Getting News
10729 @cindex reading news
10730 @cindex news backends
10732 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10733 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10734 or it can read from a local spool.
10737 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10738 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10743 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10746 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10747 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10748 server as the, uhm, address.
10750 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10751 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10752 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10753 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10755 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10756 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10757 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10759 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10764 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10765 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10766 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10768 @cindex authentification
10769 @cindex nntp authentification
10770 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10771 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10772 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10773 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10774 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10775 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10776 present in this hook.
10778 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10779 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10780 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10781 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10782 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10783 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10784 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10785 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10786 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10787 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10788 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10789 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10793 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10796 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10798 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10799 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
10800 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10801 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10802 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10803 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
10804 @samp{force} is explained below.
10808 Here's an example file:
10811 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10812 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10815 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10816 have to be first, for instance.
10818 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10819 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10820 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10821 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10822 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10823 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10824 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10826 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10827 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10833 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10834 previously mentioned.
10836 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10838 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10839 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10840 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10841 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10842 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10845 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10846 '(("innd" (ding))))
10849 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10851 The default value is
10854 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10855 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
10856 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10859 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10860 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10862 @item nntp-maximum-request
10863 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10864 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10865 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10866 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10867 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10868 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10869 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10871 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10872 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10873 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10874 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10875 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10876 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10877 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10878 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10879 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10880 no timeouts are done.
10882 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10883 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10884 @c @cindex PPP connections
10885 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10886 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10887 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10888 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10889 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10890 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10891 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10892 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10893 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10894 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10896 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10897 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10898 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10899 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10900 @c described above.
10902 @item nntp-server-hook
10903 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10904 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10907 @item nntp-buggy-select
10908 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10909 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10911 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10912 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10913 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10914 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10917 @item nntp-xover-commands
10918 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10921 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10922 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10926 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10927 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10928 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10929 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10930 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10931 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10932 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10933 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10934 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10935 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10936 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10938 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10939 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10940 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10942 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10943 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10944 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10945 server closes connection.
10947 @item nntp-record-commands
10948 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10949 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10950 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10951 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10952 that doesn't seem to work.
10954 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10955 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10956 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
10957 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
10958 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
10959 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
10960 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
10961 indirect ones (two pre-made).
10965 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
10966 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
10967 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
10971 @node Direct Functions
10972 @subsubsection Direct Functions
10973 @cindex direct connection functions
10975 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
10976 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
10977 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
10978 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
10981 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10982 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10983 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10986 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10987 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10988 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10989 you must have SSLay installed
10990 (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10991 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
10992 define a server as follows:
10995 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10997 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10999 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11000 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11001 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11002 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11005 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11006 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11007 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11008 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11009 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11010 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11011 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11012 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11016 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11017 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11018 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11021 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11022 session, which is not a good idea.
11026 @node Indirect Functions
11027 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11028 @cindex indirect connection functions
11030 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11031 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11032 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11033 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11034 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11035 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11038 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11039 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11040 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11041 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11042 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11044 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11047 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11048 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11049 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11050 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11053 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11054 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11055 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11056 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11058 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11061 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11062 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11063 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11066 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11067 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11068 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11069 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11071 @item nntp-via-user-password
11072 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11073 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11075 @item nntp-via-envuser
11076 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11077 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11078 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11079 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11081 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11082 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11083 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11084 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11091 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11096 @item nntp-via-user-name
11097 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11098 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11100 @item nntp-via-address
11101 @vindex nntp-via-address
11102 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11107 @node Common Variables
11108 @subsubsection Common Variables
11110 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11111 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11116 @item nntp-pre-command
11117 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11118 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11119 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11120 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11121 wrapper for instance.
11124 @vindex nntp-address
11125 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11127 @item nntp-port-number
11128 @vindex nntp-port-number
11129 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11131 @item nntp-end-of-line
11132 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11133 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11134 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11135 using a non native connection function.
11137 @item nntp-telnet-command
11138 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11139 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11140 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11141 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11143 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11144 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11145 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11152 @subsection News Spool
11156 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11157 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11158 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11161 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11162 anything else) as the address.
11164 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11165 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11166 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11167 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11171 @item nnspool-inews-program
11172 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11173 Program used to post an article.
11175 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11176 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11177 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11179 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11180 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11181 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11182 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11184 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11185 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11186 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11187 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11189 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11190 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11191 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11193 @item nnspool-active-file
11194 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11195 The path to the active file.
11197 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11198 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11199 The path to the group descriptions file.
11201 @item nnspool-history-file
11202 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11203 The path to the news history file.
11205 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11206 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11207 The path to the active date file.
11209 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11210 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11211 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11214 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11215 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11217 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11218 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11219 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11225 @section Getting Mail
11226 @cindex reading mail
11229 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11233 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11234 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11235 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11236 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11237 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11238 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11239 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11240 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11241 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11242 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11243 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11244 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
11245 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11249 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11250 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11252 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11253 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11254 of a culture shock.
11256 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11257 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11259 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11260 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11261 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11262 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11264 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11266 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11267 deleted? How awful!
11269 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11270 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11271 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11272 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11275 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11276 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11277 they want to treat a message.
11279 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11280 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11281 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11282 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11283 archived somewhere else.
11285 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11286 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11287 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11288 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11289 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11291 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11292 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11293 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11295 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11296 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11299 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11300 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11301 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11302 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11303 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11305 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11306 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11307 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11308 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11309 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11310 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11314 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11315 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11317 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11318 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11319 and things will happen automatically.
11321 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11322 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11325 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11326 '((nnml "private")))
11329 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
11330 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11331 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11332 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11333 like any other group.
11335 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11338 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11339 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11340 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11344 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11345 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11346 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11349 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11350 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11351 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11354 @node Splitting Mail
11355 @subsection Splitting Mail
11356 @cindex splitting mail
11357 @cindex mail splitting
11359 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11360 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11361 to be split into groups.
11364 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11365 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11366 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11367 ("mail.other" "")))
11370 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11371 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11372 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11373 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11374 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11375 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11376 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11379 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11382 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11383 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11384 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11385 mail belongs in that group.
11387 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11388 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11389 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11390 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11391 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11392 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11394 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11395 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11396 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11397 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11398 thinks should carry this mail message.
11400 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11401 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11402 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11403 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11405 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11406 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11407 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11408 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11409 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11411 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11414 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11415 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11416 links. If that's the case for you, set
11417 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11418 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11420 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11421 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11422 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11423 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11424 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11425 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11428 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11429 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11430 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11431 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11432 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11433 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11434 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11435 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11436 month's rent money.
11440 @subsection Mail Sources
11442 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11443 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11447 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11448 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11449 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11453 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11454 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11456 @cindex mail server
11459 @cindex mail source
11461 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11462 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11467 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11470 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11471 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11472 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11475 The following mail source types are available:
11479 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11485 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11486 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11489 An example file mail source:
11492 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11495 Or using the default path:
11501 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11502 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11503 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11506 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11510 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11513 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11517 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11520 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11522 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11525 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11529 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11530 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11531 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
11532 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
11533 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
11539 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11543 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11547 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11548 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11549 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11550 predicate are considered.
11554 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11558 An example directory mail source:
11561 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11566 Get mail from a POP server.
11572 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11573 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11576 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11577 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11578 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11579 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
11580 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
11583 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11587 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11591 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
11592 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11595 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11598 The valid format specifier characters are:
11602 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11603 included in this string.
11606 The name of the server.
11609 The port number of the server.
11612 The user name to use.
11615 The password to use.
11618 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11619 corresponding keywords.
11622 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11623 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11626 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11627 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11630 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11631 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11634 @item :authentication
11635 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11636 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11641 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11642 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11644 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11645 default user name, and default fetcher:
11651 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11654 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11655 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11658 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11661 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11665 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11666 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11667 contains exactly one mail.
11673 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11674 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11677 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11678 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11680 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11681 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11682 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11685 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11686 from locking problems).
11690 Two example maildir mail sources:
11693 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
11694 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11698 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
11703 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
11704 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
11705 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
11706 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
11713 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11714 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11717 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11718 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11721 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11725 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11729 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11730 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11731 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11733 @item :authentication
11734 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11735 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11736 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11740 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
11741 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
11742 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
11748 The valid format specifier characters are:
11752 The name of the server.
11755 User name from `imap-default-user'.
11758 The port number of the server.
11761 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11762 corresponding keywords.
11765 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11766 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11769 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11770 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11771 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11772 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11773 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11774 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11777 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11778 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11779 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11780 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11783 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11784 after finishing the fetch.
11788 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11791 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
11793 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11797 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11798 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11800 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11803 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11804 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11806 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11812 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11813 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11816 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11820 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11824 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11825 folder after finishing the fetch.
11829 An example webmail source:
11832 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
11834 :password "secret")
11839 @item Common Keywords
11840 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11846 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11847 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11851 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11856 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11857 useful when you use local mail and news.
11862 @subsubsection Function Interface
11864 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11865 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11866 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11867 consider the following mail-source setting:
11870 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11871 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11874 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11875 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11876 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11877 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11878 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11880 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11883 @node Mail Source Customization
11884 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11886 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11887 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11891 @item mail-source-crash-box
11892 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11893 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11894 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11896 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11897 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11898 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11900 @item mail-source-directory
11901 @vindex mail-source-directory
11902 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11903 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11904 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11907 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11908 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11909 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11910 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11911 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11912 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11914 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11915 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11916 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11921 @node Fetching Mail
11922 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11924 @vindex mail-sources
11925 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11926 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11927 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11928 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11930 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11931 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11934 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11935 mail server, you'd say something like:
11940 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11941 :password "secret")))
11944 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11948 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11949 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11952 :password "secret")))
11956 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11957 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11958 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11959 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11960 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11961 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11965 @node Mail Backend Variables
11966 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11968 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11972 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11973 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11974 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11975 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11977 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11978 @item nnmail-split-hook
11979 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11980 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11981 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11982 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11983 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11984 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11985 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11986 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11987 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11990 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11991 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11992 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11993 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11994 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11995 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11996 starting to handle the new mail) and
11997 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11998 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11999 default file modes the new mail files get:
12002 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12003 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12005 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
12006 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12009 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12010 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12011 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
12012 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12013 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
12014 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12015 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12017 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12018 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12019 @findex delete-file
12020 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12022 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12023 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12024 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12025 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12026 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12031 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12032 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12033 @cindex mail splitting
12034 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12036 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12037 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12038 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12039 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12040 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12041 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12043 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12046 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12047 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12048 ;; from real errors.
12049 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12051 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12052 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12053 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12054 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12055 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12056 ;; Other mailing lists...
12057 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12058 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12059 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12060 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12061 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12062 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12063 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12064 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12066 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12067 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12071 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12072 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12073 the five possible split syntaxes:
12078 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12079 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12083 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12084 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12085 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12086 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12087 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12088 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12089 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12090 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12093 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12094 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12095 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12096 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12099 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12100 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12103 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12104 this message. Use with extreme caution.
12107 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12108 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12109 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12110 function should return a @var{split}.
12113 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12114 body of the messages:
12117 (defun split-on-body ()
12119 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12120 (goto-char (point-min))
12121 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12125 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12126 when the @code{:} function is run.
12129 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12130 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12131 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12135 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12139 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12140 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12141 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12142 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12143 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12145 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12146 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12147 are expanded as specified by the variable
12148 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12149 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12152 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12153 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12154 when all this splitting is performed.
12156 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12157 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12158 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12161 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12164 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12165 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12167 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12168 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12169 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12170 groupings 1 through 9.
12172 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12173 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12174 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12175 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12176 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12177 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12178 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12179 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12180 it once per thread.
12182 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
12183 non-nil value. And then you can include
12184 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
12186 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12187 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12188 ;; other splits go here
12192 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12193 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12194 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12195 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12196 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12197 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12198 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12199 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12200 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
12201 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
12202 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
12203 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300
12205 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12206 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12207 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12208 messages goes into the new group.
12211 @node Group Mail Splitting
12212 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12213 @cindex mail splitting
12214 @cindex group mail splitting
12216 @findex gnus-group-split
12217 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12218 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12219 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12220 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12221 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12222 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12223 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12224 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12226 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12227 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12228 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12229 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12231 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12232 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12233 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12234 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12235 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12236 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12237 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12239 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12240 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12241 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12242 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12243 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12244 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12245 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12247 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12248 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12249 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12250 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12251 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12252 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12253 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12254 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12255 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12256 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12257 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12258 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12259 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12261 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12266 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12267 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12269 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12270 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12271 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12272 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12274 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12277 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12278 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12279 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12282 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12283 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12284 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12288 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12289 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12290 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12294 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12297 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12298 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12299 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12300 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12301 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12302 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12303 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12304 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12305 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12307 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12308 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12309 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12310 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12311 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12312 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12313 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12314 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12315 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12317 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12318 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12319 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12320 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12321 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12322 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12325 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12328 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12329 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12330 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12331 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12332 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12335 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12336 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12337 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12338 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12340 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12341 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12342 @cindex incorporating old mail
12343 @cindex import old mail
12345 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12346 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12347 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12350 Doing so can be quite easy.
12352 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12353 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12354 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12355 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12356 your @code{nnml} groups.
12362 Go to the group buffer.
12365 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12366 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12369 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12372 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12373 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12376 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12377 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12380 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12381 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12382 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12383 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12384 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12386 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12387 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12388 using the new mail backend.
12391 @node Expiring Mail
12392 @subsection Expiring Mail
12393 @cindex article expiry
12395 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12396 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12397 different approach to mail reading.
12399 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12400 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12401 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12402 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12403 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12404 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12407 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12408 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12409 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12410 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12411 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12412 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12413 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12414 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12416 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12417 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12418 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12419 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12420 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12421 column in the summary buffer.
12423 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12424 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12425 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12426 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12429 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12431 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12432 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12433 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12436 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12437 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12438 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12439 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12440 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12442 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12443 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12446 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12447 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12450 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12451 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12453 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12454 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12455 don't really mix very well.
12457 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12458 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12459 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12460 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12463 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12464 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12465 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12466 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12469 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12471 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12473 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12475 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12477 ((string= group "important")
12483 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12484 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12486 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12487 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12488 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12491 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12492 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12494 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12495 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12496 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12497 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12498 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12499 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12500 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12501 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12502 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12503 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12504 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12505 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12508 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12510 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12514 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12515 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12516 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12517 easier for procmail users.
12519 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12520 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12521 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12522 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12523 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12524 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12525 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12526 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12527 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12528 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12529 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12530 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12531 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12534 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12536 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12537 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12538 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12539 auto-expire turned on.
12543 @subsection Washing Mail
12544 @cindex mail washing
12545 @cindex list server brain damage
12546 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12548 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12549 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12550 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12551 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12552 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12553 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12555 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12556 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12557 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12560 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12561 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12562 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12563 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12566 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12567 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12568 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12569 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12570 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12573 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12574 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12575 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12576 Emacs running on MS machines.
12580 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12581 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12582 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12583 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12586 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12587 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12588 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12589 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12591 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12592 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12593 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12594 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12595 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12596 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12597 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12600 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12601 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12604 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12605 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12608 This can also be done non-destructively with
12609 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12611 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12612 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12613 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12615 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12616 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12618 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12619 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12620 @code{References} headers.
12624 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12625 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12626 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12630 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12631 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12632 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12639 @subsection Duplicates
12641 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12642 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12643 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12644 @cindex duplicate mails
12645 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12646 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12647 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12648 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12649 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12650 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12651 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12652 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12653 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12654 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12655 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12656 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12657 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12659 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12660 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12661 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12662 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12664 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12667 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12668 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12672 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12673 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12674 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
12675 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12676 (any mail "mail.misc")
12683 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12684 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12689 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12690 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12691 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12692 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12693 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12696 @node Not Reading Mail
12697 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12699 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12700 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12701 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12703 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12704 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12705 mail, which should help.
12707 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12708 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12709 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12710 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12711 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12712 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12713 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12714 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12715 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12716 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12717 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12719 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12720 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12724 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12725 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12727 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12728 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12729 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12731 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12732 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12733 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12734 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12737 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12738 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12739 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12740 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12741 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12742 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12746 @node Unix Mail Box
12747 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12749 @cindex unix mail box
12751 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12752 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12753 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12754 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12755 which group it belongs in.
12757 Virtual server settings:
12760 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12761 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12762 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
12765 @item nnmbox-active-file
12766 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12767 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
12768 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
12770 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12771 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12772 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12773 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
12778 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12782 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12783 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12784 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12785 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12786 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12788 Virtual server settings:
12791 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12792 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12793 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
12795 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12796 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12797 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
12798 @file{~/.rmail-active}
12800 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12801 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12802 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
12808 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12810 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12812 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12813 format. It should be used with some caution.
12815 @vindex nnml-directory
12816 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12817 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12818 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12819 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12821 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12824 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12825 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12826 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12827 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12828 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12829 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12830 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12831 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12833 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12834 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12835 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12836 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12838 Virtual server settings:
12841 @item nnml-directory
12842 @vindex nnml-directory
12843 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12844 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
12847 @item nnml-active-file
12848 @vindex nnml-active-file
12849 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
12850 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
12852 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12853 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12854 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12855 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
12857 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12858 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12859 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
12862 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12863 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12864 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12865 default is @code{nil}
12867 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12868 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12869 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12871 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12872 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12873 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12877 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12878 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12879 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12880 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12881 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12882 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12883 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12888 @subsubsection MH Spool
12890 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12892 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12893 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12894 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12895 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12897 Virtual server settings:
12900 @item nnmh-directory
12901 @vindex nnmh-directory
12902 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
12903 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12906 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12907 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12908 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
12912 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12913 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12914 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12915 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12916 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12917 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12918 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
12923 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12925 @cindex mbox folders
12926 @cindex mail folders
12928 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12929 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12930 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12933 Virtual server settings:
12936 @item nnfolder-directory
12937 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12938 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12939 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12942 @item nnfolder-active-file
12943 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12944 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
12946 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12947 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12948 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12949 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
12951 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12952 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12953 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
12956 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12957 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12958 @cindex backup files
12959 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12960 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12961 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12962 your @file{.emacs} file:
12965 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12966 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12968 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12971 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12972 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12973 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12974 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12975 extract some information from it before removing it.
12977 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12978 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12979 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12980 default is @code{nil}.
12985 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12986 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12987 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12988 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12989 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12990 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12993 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12994 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12996 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12997 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12998 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12999 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
13000 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13002 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13003 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13004 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13005 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13006 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13007 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13008 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13009 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13012 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
13013 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13014 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13015 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13020 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13021 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13022 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13023 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13024 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13025 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13026 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13027 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13028 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13029 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13030 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13031 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13032 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13037 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13038 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13039 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13040 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13041 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13042 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13043 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13044 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13045 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13046 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13047 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13048 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13049 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13050 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13052 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13053 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13058 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
13059 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13060 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13061 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13062 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13063 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13064 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13065 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13066 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13067 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13068 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13069 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13070 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13071 provided by the active file and overviews.
13073 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13074 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13075 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13076 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13077 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13080 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
13081 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13086 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13087 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13088 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13089 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13090 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13091 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13092 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13096 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13097 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13098 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13099 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13100 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13101 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13102 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13103 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13104 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13106 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13107 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13108 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13109 friendly mail backend all over.
13114 @node Browsing the Web
13115 @section Browsing the Web
13117 @cindex browsing the web
13121 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13122 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13123 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13124 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13125 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13126 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13127 even know what a news group is.
13129 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
13130 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
13131 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
13132 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
13133 you mad in the end.
13135 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
13138 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
13139 interfaces to these sources.
13142 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
13143 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
13144 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13145 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13146 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13147 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13150 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13152 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13153 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13154 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
13155 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
13156 though, you should be ok.
13158 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13159 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13160 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13161 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13162 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13166 @subsection Web Searches
13170 @cindex InReference
13171 @cindex Usenet searches
13172 @cindex searching the Usenet
13174 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13175 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13176 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13177 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13178 searches without having to use a browser.
13180 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13181 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13182 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13183 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13184 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13186 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13187 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13188 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13189 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13190 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13191 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13192 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13193 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13194 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13195 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13198 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13199 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13200 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13201 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13202 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13203 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13205 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13206 to use @code{nnweb}.
13208 Virtual server variables:
13213 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13214 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13218 @vindex nnweb-search
13219 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13221 @item nnweb-max-hits
13222 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13223 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13226 @item nnweb-type-definition
13227 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13228 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13229 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13234 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13238 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13241 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13244 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13248 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13255 @subsection Slashdot
13259 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13260 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13261 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13263 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13264 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13267 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13268 '((nnslashdot "")))
13271 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
13272 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13273 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13274 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13275 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13278 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13279 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13281 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13282 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13283 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13284 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13285 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13286 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13289 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13292 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13293 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13294 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13295 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13296 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13297 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13298 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13300 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13301 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13302 The login name to use when posting.
13304 @item nnslashdot-password
13305 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13306 The password to use when posting.
13308 @item nnslashdot-directory
13309 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13310 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
13311 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13313 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13314 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13315 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13316 news articles and comments. The default is
13317 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13319 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13320 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13321 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13323 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13325 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13326 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13327 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13329 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13331 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13332 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13333 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13335 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13336 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13337 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13338 updated. The default is 0.
13345 @subsection Ultimate
13347 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13349 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13350 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13351 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13352 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13354 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13355 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13356 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13357 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13358 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13359 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13360 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13362 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13365 @item nnultimate-directory
13366 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13367 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13368 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13373 @subsection Web Archive
13375 @cindex Web Archive
13377 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13378 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13379 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13380 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13383 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13384 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13385 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13386 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13387 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13388 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13389 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13391 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13394 @item nnwarchive-directory
13395 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13396 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13397 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13399 @item nnwarchive-login
13400 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13401 The account name on the web server.
13403 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13404 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13405 The password for your account on the web server.
13413 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
13414 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
13415 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13418 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
13419 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
13422 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
13425 @item nnrss-directory
13426 @vindex nnrss-directory
13427 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
13428 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
13432 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
13433 the summary buffer.
13436 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
13437 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
13439 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
13441 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
13442 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
13445 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
13448 (require 'browse-url)
13450 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
13452 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
13455 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
13456 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
13458 (browse-url (cdr url))
13459 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
13461 (eval-after-load "gnus"
13462 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
13463 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
13466 @node Customizing w3
13467 @subsection Customizing w3
13473 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
13474 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
13475 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
13477 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
13478 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
13479 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
13482 (eval-after-load "w3"
13484 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
13485 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
13486 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
13487 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
13489 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
13492 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
13493 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
13497 @node Other Sources
13498 @section Other Sources
13500 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
13501 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
13505 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
13506 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
13507 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
13508 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
13509 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
13510 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
13514 @node Directory Groups
13515 @subsection Directory Groups
13517 @cindex directory groups
13519 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
13520 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
13523 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
13524 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
13525 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
13526 backend to read directories. Big deal.
13528 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
13529 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
13530 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
13531 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
13532 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
13534 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
13536 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
13537 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
13538 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
13539 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
13542 @node Anything Groups
13543 @subsection Anything Groups
13546 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
13547 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
13548 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
13551 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
13552 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
13553 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
13554 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
13555 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
13556 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
13557 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
13558 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
13559 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
13560 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
13563 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
13564 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
13565 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
13566 in the article buffer, just as usual.
13568 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
13569 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
13570 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
13571 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
13573 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
13574 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
13575 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
13576 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
13577 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
13578 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
13579 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
13580 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
13585 @item nneething-map-file-directory
13586 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
13587 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
13588 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
13590 @item nneething-exclude-files
13591 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
13592 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
13593 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
13595 @item nneething-include-files
13596 @vindex nneething-include-files
13597 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
13598 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
13600 @item nneething-map-file
13601 @vindex nneething-map-file
13602 Name of the map files.
13606 @node Document Groups
13607 @subsection Document Groups
13609 @cindex documentation group
13612 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
13613 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
13620 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
13625 The standard Unix mbox file.
13627 @cindex MMDF mail box
13629 The MMDF mail box format.
13632 Several news articles appended into a file.
13635 @cindex rnews batch files
13636 The rnews batch transport format.
13637 @cindex forwarded messages
13640 Forwarded articles.
13643 Netscape mail boxes.
13646 MIME multipart messages.
13648 @item standard-digest
13649 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13652 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13655 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13656 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13657 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13660 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13661 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13662 group. And that's it.
13664 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13665 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13666 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13667 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13668 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13669 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13670 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13671 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13672 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13673 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13675 Virtual server variables:
13678 @item nndoc-article-type
13679 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13680 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13681 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13682 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13683 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13685 @item nndoc-post-type
13686 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13687 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13688 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13693 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13697 @node Document Server Internals
13698 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13700 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13701 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13702 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13703 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13705 First, here's an example document type definition:
13709 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13710 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13713 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13714 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13715 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13716 types can be defined with very few settings:
13719 @item first-article
13720 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13721 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13724 @item article-begin
13725 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13726 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13728 @item head-begin-function
13729 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13732 @item nndoc-head-begin
13733 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13736 @item nndoc-head-end
13737 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13738 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13740 @item body-begin-function
13741 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13745 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13748 @item body-end-function
13749 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13753 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13756 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13757 regexp will be totally ignored.
13761 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13762 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13763 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13764 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13765 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13768 @item prepare-body-function
13769 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13770 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13771 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13773 @item article-transform-function
13774 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13775 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13776 body of the article.
13778 @item generate-head-function
13779 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13780 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13781 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13782 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13786 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13791 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13792 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13793 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13794 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13795 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13796 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13797 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13798 (subtype digest guess))
13801 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13802 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13803 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13804 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13805 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13807 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13808 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13809 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13810 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13811 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13812 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13813 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13814 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13815 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13816 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13824 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13825 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13826 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13828 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13829 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13830 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13833 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13834 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13835 that interested in doing things properly.
13837 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13838 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13841 First some terminology:
13846 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13847 get news and/or mail from.
13850 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13851 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13854 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13858 @item message packets
13859 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13860 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13861 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13863 @item response packets
13864 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13865 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13866 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13876 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13877 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13878 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13879 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13882 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13885 You put the packet in your home directory.
13888 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13889 the native or secondary server.
13892 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13893 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13896 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13900 You transfer this packet to the server.
13903 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13906 You then repeat until you die.
13910 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13911 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13914 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13915 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13916 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13920 @node SOUP Commands
13921 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13923 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13927 @kindex G s b (Group)
13928 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13929 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13930 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13931 process/prefix convention.
13934 @kindex G s w (Group)
13935 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13936 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13939 @kindex G s s (Group)
13940 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13941 Send all replies from the replies packet
13942 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13945 @kindex G s p (Group)
13946 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13947 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13950 @kindex G s r (Group)
13951 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13952 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13955 @kindex O s (Summary)
13956 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13957 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13958 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13959 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13964 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13969 @item gnus-soup-directory
13970 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13971 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13972 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13974 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13975 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13976 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13977 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13979 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13980 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13981 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13982 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13984 @item gnus-soup-packer
13985 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13986 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13987 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13989 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13990 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13991 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13992 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13994 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13995 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13996 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13998 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13999 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
14000 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
14001 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
14007 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
14010 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
14011 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
14012 you can read them at leisure.
14014 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
14018 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
14019 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
14020 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
14021 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
14023 @item nnsoup-directory
14024 @vindex nnsoup-directory
14025 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
14026 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
14028 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
14029 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
14030 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
14031 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
14033 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
14034 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
14035 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
14036 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
14037 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
14039 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
14040 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
14041 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
14042 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
14044 @item nnsoup-active-file
14045 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
14046 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
14047 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
14048 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
14049 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
14051 @item nnsoup-packer
14052 @vindex nnsoup-packer
14053 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
14054 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
14056 @item nnsoup-unpacker
14057 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
14058 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
14059 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
14061 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
14062 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
14063 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
14066 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
14067 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
14068 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
14071 @item nnsoup-always-save
14072 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
14073 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
14079 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
14081 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
14082 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
14083 more for that to happen.
14085 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
14086 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
14087 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
14090 In specific, this is what it does:
14093 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
14094 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
14097 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
14098 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
14099 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
14102 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
14103 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
14104 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
14107 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
14108 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
14109 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
14111 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
14117 @item nngateway-address
14118 @vindex nngateway-address
14119 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
14121 @item nngateway-header-transformation
14122 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
14123 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
14124 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
14125 transformation should be called, and defaults to
14126 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
14127 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
14130 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
14131 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
14132 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
14135 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
14138 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
14141 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
14144 The following pre-defined functions exist:
14146 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
14149 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
14150 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
14151 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
14153 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
14155 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
14156 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
14157 @code{nngateway-address}.
14162 (setq gnus-post-method
14164 "mail2news@@replay.com"
14165 (nngateway-header-transformation
14166 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
14174 So, to use this, simply say something like:
14177 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
14183 @subsection @sc{imap}
14187 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14188 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14189 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14190 specify the network address of the server.
14192 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14193 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14194 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14195 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14196 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14198 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14199 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14200 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14201 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14203 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14204 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14205 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14206 usage explained in this section.
14208 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14209 might look something like this:
14212 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14213 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14214 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14216 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14217 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14218 ; a UW server running on localhost
14220 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14221 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14222 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14223 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14224 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14225 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14226 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14227 (nnimap-stream network))
14228 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14230 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14231 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14232 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14235 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14240 @item nnimap-address
14241 @vindex nnimap-address
14243 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14244 server name if not specified.
14246 @item nnimap-server-port
14247 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14248 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14250 Note that this should be a integer, example server specification:
14253 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14254 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14257 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14258 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14259 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14260 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14261 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14262 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14263 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14265 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14266 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14267 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14270 Example server specification:
14273 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14274 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14275 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14278 @item nnimap-stream
14279 @vindex nnimap-stream
14280 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14281 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14282 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
14283 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
14285 Example server specification:
14288 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14289 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14292 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14296 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
14297 @samp{imtest} program.
14299 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14301 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14302 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14305 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the
14306 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
14308 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14310 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14313 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14314 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14315 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14316 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14317 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14318 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14319 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14320 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14321 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14324 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14325 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14326 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14327 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14328 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14329 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14330 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14333 @vindex imap-shell-program
14334 @vindex imap-shell-host
14335 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14336 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14338 @item nnimap-authenticator
14339 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14341 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14342 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14344 Example server specification:
14347 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14348 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14351 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14355 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14356 external program @code{imtest}.
14358 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14361 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14362 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14364 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14366 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14368 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14371 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14373 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14374 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14375 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14376 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14377 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14378 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14381 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14382 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14383 running in circles yet?
14385 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14386 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14389 The possible options are:
14394 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14397 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14398 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14399 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14400 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14402 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14407 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14408 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14410 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14411 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14412 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14413 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14414 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14416 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14417 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14420 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14421 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14422 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14423 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14426 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14427 as ticked for other users.
14429 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14431 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14433 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14434 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14435 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14436 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14438 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14439 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14440 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14441 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14443 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14444 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14446 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14447 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14448 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14454 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14455 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14456 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14461 @node Splitting in IMAP
14462 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14463 @cindex splitting imap mail
14465 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14466 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14467 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14468 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14469 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14473 Here are the variables of interest:
14477 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14478 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14480 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14482 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14483 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14485 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14487 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14488 @cindex splitting, inbox
14490 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14492 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14493 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14497 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14498 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14501 No nnmail equivalent.
14503 @item nnimap-split-rule
14504 @cindex Splitting, rules
14505 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14507 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14510 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14511 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14512 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14513 Neither did I, we need examples.
14516 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14518 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14519 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14520 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14523 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14524 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14525 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14527 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14528 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14532 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14535 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14536 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14537 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14538 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14540 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14541 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14542 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14543 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14544 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14545 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14547 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14548 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14549 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14551 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14552 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14553 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14555 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14557 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14558 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14559 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14562 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14563 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14564 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14565 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14566 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14567 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14570 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14571 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14572 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14573 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14574 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14575 group/function elements.
14577 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14579 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14581 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14583 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14584 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14586 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14587 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14588 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14591 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14592 @cindex splitting, fancy
14593 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14594 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14596 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14597 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14598 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14600 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14601 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14602 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14603 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14608 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14609 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14612 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14616 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14617 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14618 @cindex editing imap acls
14619 @cindex Access Control Lists
14620 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14622 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14624 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14625 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14626 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14629 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14630 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14631 editing window with detailed instructions.
14633 Some possible uses:
14637 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14638 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14639 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14641 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14642 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14643 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14647 @node Expunging mailboxes
14648 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
14652 @cindex Manual expunging
14654 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14656 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14657 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14658 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14660 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14665 @node Combined Groups
14666 @section Combined Groups
14668 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
14672 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
14673 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
14677 @node Virtual Groups
14678 @subsection Virtual Groups
14680 @cindex virtual groups
14681 @cindex merging groups
14683 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
14686 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
14687 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
14688 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
14690 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
14691 regexp to match component groups.
14693 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
14694 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
14695 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
14696 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
14697 the virtual group.)
14699 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
14700 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
14703 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
14706 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
14707 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
14709 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
14710 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
14711 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
14712 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
14715 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
14718 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
14719 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
14720 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
14722 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
14723 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
14724 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
14725 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
14726 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
14728 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
14729 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
14730 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
14732 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
14733 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
14734 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
14735 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14736 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
14737 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
14738 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
14739 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
14740 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
14741 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
14742 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
14744 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14745 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14746 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14747 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14748 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14749 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14750 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14752 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14753 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14757 @node Kibozed Groups
14758 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14762 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14763 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14764 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14765 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14767 @kindex G k (Group)
14768 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14771 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14772 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14773 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14774 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14776 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14777 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14778 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14780 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14781 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14782 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14783 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14784 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14785 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14786 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14787 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14789 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14790 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14791 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14792 Stranger things have happened.
14794 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14795 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14797 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14798 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14799 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14800 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14801 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14802 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14804 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14805 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14808 @node Gnus Unplugged
14809 @section Gnus Unplugged
14814 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14816 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14817 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14818 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14819 read news. Believe it or not.
14821 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14822 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14823 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14824 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14825 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14827 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14828 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14829 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14830 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14831 reading news on a machine.
14833 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14837 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14838 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14842 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14843 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14850 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14852 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14855 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14856 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14857 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14858 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14859 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
14860 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14861 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14862 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14863 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14864 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14869 @subsection Agent Basics
14871 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14873 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14874 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14875 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14876 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14878 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14879 connected to the net continuously.
14881 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14882 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14884 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14889 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14890 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14891 already fetched while in this mode.
14894 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14895 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14896 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14897 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
14898 Source Specifiers}).
14901 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14902 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
14903 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
14904 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14905 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14908 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14909 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14910 then you read the news offline.
14913 And then you go to step 2.
14916 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14922 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14923 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14924 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14925 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14926 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14927 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14930 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14937 @node Agent Categories
14938 @subsection Agent Categories
14940 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14941 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14942 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14943 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14944 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14945 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14946 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14948 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14949 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14950 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14951 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14952 managing categories.
14955 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14956 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14957 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14961 @node Category Syntax
14962 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14964 A category consists of two things.
14968 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14969 are eligible for downloading; and
14972 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14973 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14974 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14977 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14978 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14979 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14980 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14982 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14983 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14984 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
14986 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14987 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14988 operators sprinkled in between.
14990 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14992 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14993 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14999 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15000 short (for some value of ``short'').
15002 Here's a more complex predicate:
15011 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15012 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15015 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15016 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15017 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15019 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15020 you want to do, you can write your own.
15024 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15025 lines; default 100.
15028 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15029 lines; default 200.
15032 True iff the article has a download score less than
15033 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15036 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15037 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15040 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15041 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15042 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15051 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15052 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15053 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15056 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15057 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15058 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15059 something along the lines of the following:
15062 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15063 "Say whether an article is old."
15064 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15065 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15068 with the predicate then defined as:
15071 (not my-article-old-p)
15074 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15075 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15076 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15077 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15080 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15081 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15082 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15085 and simply specify your predicate as:
15091 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
15092 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
15093 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
15094 just don't give a damn.
15096 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
15097 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
15098 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
15099 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
15100 parameters like so:
15103 (agent-predicate . short)
15106 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
15107 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
15108 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
15110 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
15113 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
15116 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
15117 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
15118 predicate is assumed to be a list.
15121 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
15122 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
15123 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
15124 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
15125 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
15126 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
15128 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
15129 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
15130 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
15131 if it's to be specific to that group.
15133 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
15140 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
15141 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
15147 Category specification
15151 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15157 Group Parameter specification
15160 (agent-score ("from"
15161 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15166 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
15172 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
15179 Category specification
15182 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
15188 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
15192 Group Parameter specification
15195 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
15198 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
15203 Use @code{normal} score files
15205 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
15206 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15207 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15208 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15210 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15211 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15212 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15213 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15217 Category Specification
15224 Group Parameter specification
15227 (agent-score . file)
15232 @node Category Buffer
15233 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15235 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15236 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15237 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15239 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15243 @kindex q (Category)
15244 @findex gnus-category-exit
15245 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15248 @kindex k (Category)
15249 @findex gnus-category-kill
15250 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15253 @kindex c (Category)
15254 @findex gnus-category-copy
15255 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15258 @kindex a (Category)
15259 @findex gnus-category-add
15260 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15263 @kindex p (Category)
15264 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15265 Edit the predicate of the current category
15266 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15269 @kindex g (Category)
15270 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15271 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15272 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15275 @kindex s (Category)
15276 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15277 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15278 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15281 @kindex l (Category)
15282 @findex gnus-category-list
15283 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
15287 @node Category Variables
15288 @subsubsection Category Variables
15291 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
15292 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
15293 Hook run in category buffers.
15295 @item gnus-category-line-format
15296 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
15297 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
15298 Variables}). Valid elements are:
15302 The name of the category.
15305 The number of groups in the category.
15308 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
15309 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
15310 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
15312 @item gnus-agent-short-article
15313 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
15314 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
15316 @item gnus-agent-long-article
15317 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
15318 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
15320 @item gnus-agent-low-score
15321 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
15322 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
15325 @item gnus-agent-high-score
15326 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
15327 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
15333 @node Agent Commands
15334 @subsection Agent Commands
15336 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
15337 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
15338 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
15342 * Group Agent Commands::
15343 * Summary Agent Commands::
15344 * Server Agent Commands::
15347 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
15348 following incantation:
15350 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15352 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15357 @node Group Agent Commands
15358 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15362 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15363 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15364 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15365 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15368 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15369 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15370 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15373 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15374 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15375 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15376 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15379 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15380 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15381 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15382 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15385 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15386 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15387 Add the current group to an Agent category
15388 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15389 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15392 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15393 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15394 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15395 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15396 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15399 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15400 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15401 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15407 @node Summary Agent Commands
15408 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15412 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15413 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15414 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15417 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15418 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15419 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15420 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15423 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15424 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15425 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15428 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15429 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15430 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15435 @node Server Agent Commands
15436 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15440 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15441 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15442 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15443 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15446 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15447 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15448 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15449 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15455 @subsection Agent Expiry
15457 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15458 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15459 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15460 @cindex Agent expiry
15461 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
15464 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
15465 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
15466 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
15467 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
15468 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
15469 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
15471 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
15472 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
15473 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
15474 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
15475 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
15478 @node Agent and IMAP
15479 @subsection Agent and IMAP
15481 The Agent work with any Gnus backend, including nnimap. However,
15482 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
15483 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
15484 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
15486 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
15487 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
15488 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
15489 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
15491 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
15492 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
15493 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
15494 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
15495 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
15497 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15498 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
15499 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
15500 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
15501 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
15502 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
15504 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
15505 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
15506 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
15507 in the group buffer by default.
15509 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
15510 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
15515 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
15518 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
15522 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
15523 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
15524 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
15525 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
15526 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
15527 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
15528 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
15529 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
15532 @node Outgoing Messages
15533 @subsection Outgoing Messages
15535 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
15536 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
15537 after posting, and edit them at will.
15539 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
15540 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
15541 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
15542 messages in the draft group.
15546 @node Agent Variables
15547 @subsection Agent Variables
15550 @item gnus-agent-directory
15551 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
15552 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
15553 @file{~/News/agent/}.
15555 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
15556 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
15557 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
15558 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
15559 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
15562 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15563 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15564 Hook run when connecting to the network.
15566 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15567 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15568 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
15573 @node Example Setup
15574 @subsection Example Setup
15576 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
15577 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
15578 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
15581 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
15582 ;;; from your ISP's server.
15583 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
15585 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
15586 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
15587 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
15589 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
15590 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15592 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
15596 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
15597 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
15600 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
15601 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
15602 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
15603 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
15604 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
15607 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
15608 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
15609 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
15610 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
15611 back all the killed groups.)
15613 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
15614 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
15615 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
15618 @node Batching Agents
15619 @subsection Batching Agents
15621 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
15622 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
15623 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
15627 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
15631 @node Agent Caveats
15632 @subsection Agent Caveats
15634 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
15635 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
15639 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
15644 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
15645 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
15651 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
15652 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
15659 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
15660 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
15661 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
15664 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
15665 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
15666 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
15667 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
15668 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
15670 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
15671 before generating the summary buffer.
15673 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
15674 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
15675 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
15677 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
15678 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
15679 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
15680 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
15683 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
15684 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
15685 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
15686 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
15687 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
15688 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
15689 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
15690 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
15691 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
15692 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
15693 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
15694 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
15695 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
15696 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
15697 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
15698 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
15702 @node Summary Score Commands
15703 @section Summary Score Commands
15704 @cindex score commands
15706 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
15707 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
15708 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
15709 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
15710 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
15712 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
15713 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
15714 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
15715 score file the current one.
15717 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
15722 @kindex V s (Summary)
15723 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
15724 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
15727 @kindex V S (Summary)
15728 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
15729 Display the score of the current article
15730 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
15733 @kindex V t (Summary)
15734 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
15735 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
15736 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
15739 @kindex V R (Summary)
15740 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
15741 Run the current summary through the scoring process
15742 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
15743 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
15744 effect you're having.
15747 @kindex V c (Summary)
15748 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
15749 Make a different score file the current
15750 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
15753 @kindex V e (Summary)
15754 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
15755 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
15756 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
15760 @kindex V f (Summary)
15761 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
15762 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
15763 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
15766 @kindex V F (Summary)
15767 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15768 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
15769 after editing score files.
15772 @kindex V C (Summary)
15773 @findex gnus-score-customize
15774 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
15775 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
15779 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
15784 @kindex V m (Summary)
15785 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
15786 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
15787 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
15790 @kindex V x (Summary)
15791 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
15792 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
15793 expunge all articles below this score
15794 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
15797 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
15798 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
15801 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
15802 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
15806 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
15807 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15809 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15810 keys are available:
15814 Score on the author name.
15817 Score on the subject line.
15820 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15823 Score on the @code{References} line.
15829 Score on the number of lines.
15832 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15835 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15836 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
15837 @file{ADAPT} files.)
15846 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
15852 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15853 what headers you are scoring on.
15865 Substring matching.
15868 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15897 Greater than number.
15902 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15903 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15904 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15908 Temporary score entry.
15911 Permanent score entry.
15914 Immediately scoring.
15919 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15920 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15921 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15922 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15924 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15925 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15926 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15927 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15928 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15930 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15931 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15932 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15933 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15934 current score file.
15936 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15937 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15938 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15941 @node Group Score Commands
15942 @section Group Score Commands
15943 @cindex group score commands
15945 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15950 @kindex W f (Group)
15951 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15952 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15953 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15954 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15958 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15960 @findex gnus-batch-score
15961 @cindex batch scoring
15963 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15967 @node Score Variables
15968 @section Score Variables
15969 @cindex score variables
15973 @item gnus-use-scoring
15974 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15975 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15976 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15978 @item gnus-kill-killed
15979 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15980 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15981 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15982 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15983 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15984 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15985 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15987 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15988 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15989 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15990 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15991 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15993 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15994 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15995 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15996 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15998 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15999 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16000 @cindex score cache
16001 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16002 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16003 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
16004 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16005 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16006 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16009 @item gnus-save-score
16010 @vindex gnus-save-score
16011 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16012 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16013 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16015 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16016 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16017 across group visits.
16019 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16020 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16021 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16022 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16023 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16024 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16025 manually entered data.
16027 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16028 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16029 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16031 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16032 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16033 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16034 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16035 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16036 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16038 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16039 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16040 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16041 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16043 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16044 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16045 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16046 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16048 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16049 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16050 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16051 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16053 Predefined functions available are:
16056 @item gnus-score-find-single
16057 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16058 Only apply the group's own score file.
16060 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16061 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16062 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16063 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16064 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16065 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16066 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16067 then a regexp match is done.
16069 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16070 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16072 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16073 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16074 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16075 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16077 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16078 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16079 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
16080 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
16081 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
16085 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
16086 functions will be called with the group name as argument, and all the
16087 returned lists of score files will be applied. These functions can also
16088 return lists of score alists directly. In that case, the functions that
16089 return these non-file score alists should probably be placed before the
16090 ``real'' score file functions, to ensure that the last score file
16091 returned is the local score file. Phu.
16093 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
16094 overall score file, you could use the value
16096 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
16097 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
16100 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
16101 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
16102 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
16103 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
16104 are expired. It's 7 by default.
16106 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16107 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16108 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
16109 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
16110 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
16111 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
16112 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
16115 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16116 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16117 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
16119 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
16120 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
16121 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
16122 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
16123 threading---according to the current value of
16124 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
16125 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
16126 simplified in this manner.
16131 @node Score File Format
16132 @section Score File Format
16133 @cindex score file format
16135 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
16136 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
16137 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
16139 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
16143 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
16145 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
16147 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
16149 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
16154 (mark-and-expunge -10)
16158 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
16159 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
16160 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
16161 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
16165 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
16166 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
16168 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
16169 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
16170 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
16172 Six keys are supported by this alist:
16177 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
16178 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
16179 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
16180 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
16181 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
16182 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
16183 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
16184 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
16185 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
16186 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
16187 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
16188 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
16189 to articles that matches these score entries.
16191 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
16192 score entry has one to four elements.
16196 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
16197 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
16201 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
16202 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
16203 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
16204 is successful. If this element is not present, the
16205 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
16206 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16209 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16210 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16211 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16212 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16213 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16216 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16217 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16218 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16219 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16222 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16223 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16224 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16225 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16226 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16227 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16228 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16229 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16230 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16231 instead, if you feel like.
16234 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16235 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16237 These predicates are true if
16240 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16243 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16244 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16251 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16252 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16253 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16254 it's not. I think.)
16256 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
16257 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16258 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16259 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16262 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16263 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16264 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16265 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16266 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16267 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16268 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16272 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16273 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16274 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
16275 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
16276 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
16277 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
16278 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
16279 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
16282 @item Head, Body, All
16283 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
16287 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
16288 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
16289 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
16290 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
16291 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
16292 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
16293 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
16297 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
16298 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
16299 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
16300 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
16301 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
16302 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
16303 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
16304 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
16305 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
16306 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
16307 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
16311 @cindex Score File Atoms
16313 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16314 lower than this number will be marked as read.
16317 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16318 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
16320 @item mark-and-expunge
16321 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16322 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
16325 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
16326 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
16327 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
16328 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
16329 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
16332 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
16333 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
16336 @item exclude-files
16337 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
16338 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
16342 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
16343 ignored when handling global score files.
16346 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
16347 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
16348 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
16349 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
16352 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16353 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16354 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16355 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16357 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16361 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16364 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16365 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16366 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16367 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16368 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16370 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
16371 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
16372 scoring rules exist.
16375 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16376 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16377 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16378 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16379 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16380 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16381 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16382 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16383 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16384 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16385 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16389 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16390 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16391 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16392 file for a number of groups.
16395 @cindex local variables
16396 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16397 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16398 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16399 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16400 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16404 @node Score File Editing
16405 @section Score File Editing
16407 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16408 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16409 with a mode for that.
16411 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16412 additional commands:
16417 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16418 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16419 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16420 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16423 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16424 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16425 Insert the current date in numerical format
16426 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16427 you were wondering.
16430 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16431 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16432 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16433 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16434 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16439 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16441 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16442 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16444 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16445 e} to begin editing score files.
16448 @node Adaptive Scoring
16449 @section Adaptive Scoring
16450 @cindex adaptive scoring
16452 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16453 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16454 stupidity, to be precise.
16456 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16457 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16458 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16459 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16460 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16461 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
16462 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
16463 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
16464 variable to @code{(word line)}.
16466 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16467 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
16468 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
16469 might look something like this:
16472 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16473 '((gnus-unread-mark)
16474 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
16475 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
16476 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
16477 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
16478 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
16479 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
16480 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
16481 (gnus-ancient-mark)
16482 (gnus-low-score-mark)
16483 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
16486 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
16487 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
16488 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
16489 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
16490 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
16491 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
16494 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
16495 will be applied to each article.
16497 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
16498 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
16499 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
16500 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
16502 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
16503 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
16504 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
16505 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
16507 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
16508 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
16509 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
16510 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
16512 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
16513 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
16514 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
16515 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
16516 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
16517 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
16519 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
16520 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
16521 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
16522 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
16523 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
16524 aspirins afterwards.)
16526 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
16527 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
16528 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
16530 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
16531 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
16532 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
16534 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
16535 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
16536 let you use different rules in different groups.
16538 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
16539 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
16540 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
16543 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
16544 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
16545 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
16546 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
16547 the length of the match is less than
16548 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
16549 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
16552 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16553 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
16554 headers. If you adapt on words, the
16555 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
16556 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
16559 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16560 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
16561 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
16562 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
16563 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
16566 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
16567 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
16568 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
16569 score with 30 points.
16571 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
16572 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
16573 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
16574 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
16575 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
16577 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
16578 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
16579 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
16580 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
16581 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
16583 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
16584 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
16585 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
16586 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
16588 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
16589 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
16590 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
16591 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
16593 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
16594 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
16595 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
16596 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
16597 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
16599 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
16600 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
16601 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
16603 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
16604 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
16605 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
16606 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
16609 @node Home Score File
16610 @section Home Score File
16612 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
16613 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
16614 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
16615 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
16617 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
16618 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
16619 could perhaps use the same home score file.
16621 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
16622 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
16627 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
16631 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
16632 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
16636 A list. The elements in this list can be:
16640 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
16641 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
16644 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
16645 the home score file.
16648 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
16651 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
16656 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
16659 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16660 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
16663 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
16664 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
16666 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
16668 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16669 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
16672 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
16673 Other functions include
16676 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
16677 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
16678 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
16679 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
16683 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
16684 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
16685 their own home score files:
16688 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16689 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
16690 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
16691 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
16692 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
16695 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
16696 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
16697 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
16698 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
16699 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
16701 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
16702 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
16703 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
16704 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
16705 precedence over this variable.
16708 @node Followups To Yourself
16709 @section Followups To Yourself
16711 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
16712 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
16713 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
16714 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
16715 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
16716 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
16720 @item gnus-score-followup-article
16721 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
16722 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
16725 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
16726 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
16727 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
16731 @vindex message-sent-hook
16732 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
16733 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
16735 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
16739 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
16740 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
16744 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16745 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16748 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
16749 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
16754 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
16758 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
16759 is system-dependent.
16763 @section Scoring Tips
16764 @cindex scoring tips
16770 @cindex scoring crossposts
16771 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
16772 the @code{Xref} header.
16774 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
16777 @item Multiple crossposts
16778 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
16779 more than, say, 3 groups:
16782 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
16786 @item Matching on the body
16787 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
16788 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
16789 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
16790 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
16791 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
16792 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
16793 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
16796 @item Marking as read
16797 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
16798 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
16799 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
16803 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
16805 @item Negated character classes
16806 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
16807 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
16808 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
16812 @node Reverse Scoring
16813 @section Reverse Scoring
16814 @cindex reverse scoring
16816 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
16817 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
16818 like this in your score file:
16822 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
16827 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
16828 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16831 @node Global Score Files
16832 @section Global Score Files
16833 @cindex global score files
16835 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16836 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16837 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16839 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16840 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16841 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16843 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16844 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16845 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16846 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16847 files are applicable to which group.
16849 To use the score file
16850 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16851 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
16855 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16856 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16857 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16860 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16862 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16863 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16864 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16865 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16867 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16868 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16870 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16871 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16872 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16873 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16874 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16875 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16877 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16883 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16885 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16887 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16889 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16890 lowered out of existence.
16892 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16893 articles completely.
16896 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16897 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16898 old articles for a long time.
16901 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16902 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16903 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16904 holding our breath yet?
16908 @section Kill Files
16911 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16912 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16913 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16915 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16916 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16917 files into score files.
16919 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16920 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16921 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16922 that isn't a very good idea.
16924 Normal kill files look like this:
16927 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16928 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16932 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16933 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16935 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16936 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16939 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16944 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16945 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16946 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16949 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16950 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16951 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16954 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16959 @kindex M-k (Group)
16960 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16961 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16964 @kindex M-K (Group)
16965 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16966 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16969 Kill file variables:
16972 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16973 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16974 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16975 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16976 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16977 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16978 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16980 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16981 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16982 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16983 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16986 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16987 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16988 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16989 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16990 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16991 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16992 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16993 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16994 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16996 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16997 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16998 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17003 @node Converting Kill Files
17004 @section Converting Kill Files
17006 @cindex converting kill files
17008 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17009 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17010 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17013 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17014 You can fetch it from
17015 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17017 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17018 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17019 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17027 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
17028 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
17029 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
17031 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17032 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17033 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17034 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17035 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17036 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17037 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17038 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17042 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
17043 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
17044 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
17045 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
17049 @node Using GroupLens
17050 @subsection Using GroupLens
17052 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
17054 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
17055 better bit in town at the moment.
17057 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
17061 @item gnus-use-grouplens
17062 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
17063 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
17064 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
17066 @item grouplens-pseudonym
17067 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
17068 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
17069 with the Better Bit Bureau.
17071 @item grouplens-newsgroups
17072 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
17073 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
17077 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
17078 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
17079 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
17080 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
17081 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
17082 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
17085 @node Rating Articles
17086 @subsection Rating Articles
17088 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
17089 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
17090 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
17091 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
17094 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
17099 @kindex r (GroupLens)
17100 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
17101 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
17104 @kindex k (GroupLens)
17105 @findex grouplens-score-thread
17106 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
17107 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
17108 threads in rec.humor.
17112 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
17113 the score of the article you're reading.
17118 @kindex n (GroupLens)
17119 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
17120 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
17123 @kindex , (GroupLens)
17124 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
17125 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
17129 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
17130 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
17133 @node Displaying Predictions
17134 @subsection Displaying Predictions
17136 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
17137 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
17138 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
17139 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
17140 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
17142 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
17143 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
17144 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
17145 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
17146 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
17147 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
17148 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
17149 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
17150 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
17151 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
17152 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
17153 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
17154 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
17156 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
17157 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
17158 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
17159 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
17161 The following are valid values for that variable.
17164 @item prediction-spot
17165 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
17168 @item confidence-interval
17169 A numeric confidence interval.
17171 @item prediction-bar
17172 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
17174 @item confidence-bar
17175 Numerical confidence.
17177 @item confidence-spot
17178 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
17180 @item prediction-num
17181 Plain-old numeric value.
17183 @item confidence-plus-minus
17184 Prediction +/- confidence.
17189 @node GroupLens Variables
17190 @subsection GroupLens Variables
17194 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
17195 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
17196 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
17197 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
17200 @item grouplens-bbb-host
17201 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
17204 @item grouplens-bbb-port
17205 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
17207 @item grouplens-score-offset
17208 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17209 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17212 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17213 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17214 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17219 @node Advanced Scoring
17220 @section Advanced Scoring
17222 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17223 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17224 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17225 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17226 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
17228 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
17232 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
17233 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
17234 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
17238 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
17239 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
17241 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
17242 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
17243 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
17244 non-@code{nil} value.
17246 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
17247 operator, and various match operators.
17254 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17255 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
17256 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
17261 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17262 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
17263 then this operator will return @code{false}.
17268 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
17269 logical negation of the value of its argument.
17273 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
17274 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
17275 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
17276 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
17277 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
17278 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
17279 the ancestry you want to go.
17281 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
17282 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
17283 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
17284 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
17285 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
17288 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
17289 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
17291 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
17292 when he's talking about Gnus:
17296 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17297 ("subject" "Gnus"))
17303 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
17307 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17314 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
17315 really don't want to read what he's written:
17319 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17320 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
17324 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
17325 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
17326 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
17333 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
17334 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
17335 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
17336 ("body" "white.*socks"))
17340 The possibilities are endless.
17343 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
17344 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
17346 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
17347 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
17348 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
17349 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
17350 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
17351 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
17352 @samp{subject}) first.
17354 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
17355 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17366 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17367 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17373 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17380 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
17381 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17386 @section Score Decays
17387 @cindex score decays
17390 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17391 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17392 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17393 use them in any sensible way.
17395 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17396 @findex gnus-decay-score
17397 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17398 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17399 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17400 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17401 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17402 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17403 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17404 definition of that function:
17407 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17409 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17410 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17413 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17415 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17417 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17420 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17421 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17422 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17423 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
17427 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
17430 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
17433 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
17437 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
17438 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
17439 the new score, which should be an integer.
17441 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
17442 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
17449 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
17450 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
17451 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
17452 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
17453 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
17454 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
17455 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
17456 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
17457 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
17458 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
17459 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
17460 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
17461 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
17462 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
17463 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
17464 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
17465 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
17466 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
17470 @node Process/Prefix
17471 @section Process/Prefix
17472 @cindex process/prefix convention
17474 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
17475 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
17477 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
17478 command to be performed on.
17482 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
17483 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
17484 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
17485 with the current one.
17487 @vindex transient-mark-mode
17488 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
17489 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
17491 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
17492 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
17495 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
17496 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
17498 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
17501 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
17502 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
17503 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
17504 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17506 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
17507 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
17508 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
17509 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
17510 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
17511 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
17512 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
17513 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
17515 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
17516 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
17517 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
17518 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
17519 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
17523 @section Interactive
17524 @cindex interaction
17528 @item gnus-novice-user
17529 @vindex gnus-novice-user
17530 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
17531 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
17532 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
17533 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
17536 @item gnus-expert-user
17537 @vindex gnus-expert-user
17538 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
17539 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
17540 matter how strange.
17542 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
17543 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
17544 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
17545 is @code{t} by default.
17547 @item gnus-interactive-exit
17548 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
17549 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17554 @node Symbolic Prefixes
17555 @section Symbolic Prefixes
17556 @cindex symbolic prefixes
17558 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
17559 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
17560 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
17561 rule of 900 to the current article.
17563 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
17564 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
17565 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
17566 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
17567 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
17568 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
17569 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
17571 @kindex M-i (Summary)
17572 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
17573 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
17574 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
17575 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
17576 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
17577 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
17578 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
17579 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
17581 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
17582 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
17583 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
17585 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
17589 @node Formatting Variables
17590 @section Formatting Variables
17591 @cindex formatting variables
17593 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
17594 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
17595 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
17596 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
17597 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
17600 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
17601 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
17602 lots of percentages everywhere.
17605 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
17606 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
17607 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
17608 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
17609 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
17612 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
17613 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
17614 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
17615 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
17616 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
17617 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
17618 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
17619 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
17621 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
17622 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
17624 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
17625 @findex gnus-update-format
17626 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
17627 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
17628 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
17629 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
17633 @node Formatting Basics
17634 @subsection Formatting Basics
17636 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
17637 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
17638 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
17640 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
17641 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
17642 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
17643 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
17644 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
17647 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
17648 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
17649 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
17650 less than 4 characters wide.
17653 @node Mode Line Formatting
17654 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
17656 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
17657 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
17658 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
17659 with the following two differences:
17664 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
17667 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
17668 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
17669 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
17670 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
17671 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
17672 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
17673 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
17678 @node Advanced Formatting
17679 @subsection Advanced Formatting
17681 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
17682 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
17683 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
17684 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
17686 These are the valid modifiers:
17691 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
17695 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
17700 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
17703 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
17708 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
17711 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
17714 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
17717 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
17721 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
17722 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
17723 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
17724 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
17725 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
17726 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
17727 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
17729 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
17730 last operation, padding.
17732 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
17733 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
17734 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
17735 @xref{Compilation}.
17738 @node User-Defined Specs
17739 @subsection User-Defined Specs
17741 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
17742 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
17743 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
17744 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
17745 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
17746 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
17747 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
17748 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
17749 should protect against that.
17751 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
17752 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
17753 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
17754 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
17758 @node Formatting Fonts
17759 @subsection Formatting Fonts
17761 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
17762 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
17763 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
17764 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
17767 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
17768 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
17769 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
17770 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
17771 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
17772 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
17774 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
17775 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
17776 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
17777 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
17778 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
17779 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
17780 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
17781 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
17783 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
17786 ;; Create three face types.
17787 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
17788 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
17790 ;; We want the article count to be in
17791 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
17792 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
17793 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
17795 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
17796 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
17798 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
17799 (setq gnus-group-line-format
17800 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
17803 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
17804 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
17806 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
17807 mode-line variables.
17810 @node Windows Configuration
17811 @section Windows Configuration
17812 @cindex windows configuration
17814 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
17816 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
17817 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
17818 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
17819 @code{t} by default.
17821 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
17822 glitches. Use at your own peril.
17824 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
17825 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
17826 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
17829 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
17830 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
17831 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17835 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17836 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17837 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17838 possible names is listed below.
17840 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17841 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17844 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17848 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17849 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17850 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17851 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17852 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17853 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17854 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17855 size spec per split.
17857 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17858 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17859 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17860 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17861 present) gets focus.
17863 Here's a more complicated example:
17866 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17867 (summary 0.25 point)
17868 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17872 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17873 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17874 occupy, not a percentage.
17876 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17877 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17878 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17879 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17880 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17883 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17886 (article (horizontal 1.0
17891 (summary 0.25 point)
17896 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17897 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17899 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17900 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17901 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17902 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17903 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17905 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17906 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17907 lines from the splits.
17909 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17913 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17914 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17915 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17916 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17917 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17918 size = number | frame-params
17919 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
17922 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17923 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17924 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17925 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17927 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17928 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17929 @cindex window height
17930 @cindex window width
17931 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17932 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17933 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17934 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17935 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17936 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17938 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17939 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17940 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17941 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17943 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17944 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17945 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17946 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17947 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17948 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17949 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17950 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17951 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17952 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17953 configuration list.
17956 (gnus-configure-frame
17960 (article 0.3 point))
17968 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17969 @code{frame} split:
17972 (gnus-configure-frame
17975 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17977 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17978 (user-position . t)
17979 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17984 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17985 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17986 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17987 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17988 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17989 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17990 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17991 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17993 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17994 be found in its default value.
17996 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17997 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17998 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
18002 (message (horizontal 1.0
18003 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
18005 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
18010 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
18011 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
18012 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
18017 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
18018 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
18019 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
18020 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
18021 (name . "Message"))
18022 (message 1.0 point))))
18025 @findex gnus-add-configuration
18026 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
18027 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
18028 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
18029 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
18032 (gnus-add-configuration
18033 '(article (vertical 1.0
18035 (summary .25 point)
18039 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
18040 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
18041 Gnus has been loaded.
18043 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
18044 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
18045 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
18046 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
18047 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
18049 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
18050 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
18051 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
18054 @subsection Example Window Configurations
18058 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
18059 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
18074 (gnus-add-configuration
18077 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18079 (summary 0.16 point)
18082 (gnus-add-configuration
18085 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18086 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
18092 @node Faces and Fonts
18093 @section Faces and Fonts
18098 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
18099 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
18100 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
18105 @section Compilation
18106 @cindex compilation
18107 @cindex byte-compilation
18109 @findex gnus-compile
18111 Remember all those line format specification variables?
18112 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
18113 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
18114 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
18115 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
18116 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
18119 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
18120 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
18121 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
18122 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
18123 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
18124 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
18125 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
18129 @section Mode Lines
18132 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
18133 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
18134 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
18135 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
18136 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
18137 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
18138 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
18141 @cindex display-time
18143 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
18144 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
18145 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
18146 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
18147 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
18148 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
18149 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
18150 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
18153 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
18155 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
18156 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
18158 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
18159 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
18160 (length display-time-string)))))
18163 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
18164 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
18165 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
18166 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
18167 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
18170 @node Highlighting and Menus
18171 @section Highlighting and Menus
18173 @cindex highlighting
18176 @vindex gnus-visual
18177 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
18178 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
18179 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
18182 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
18183 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
18186 @item group-highlight
18187 Do highlights in the group buffer.
18188 @item summary-highlight
18189 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
18190 @item article-highlight
18191 Do highlights in the article buffer.
18193 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
18195 Create menus in the group buffer.
18197 Create menus in the summary buffers.
18199 Create menus in the article buffer.
18201 Create menus in the browse buffer.
18203 Create menus in the server buffer.
18205 Create menus in the score buffers.
18207 Create menus in all buffers.
18210 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
18211 buffers, you could say something like:
18214 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
18217 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
18220 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
18223 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
18224 in all Gnus buffers.
18226 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
18229 @item gnus-mouse-face
18230 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
18231 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
18232 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
18236 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
18240 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
18241 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
18242 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
18244 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
18245 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
18246 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
18248 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
18249 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
18250 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
18252 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
18253 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
18254 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
18256 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
18257 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
18258 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
18260 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
18261 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
18262 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
18273 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
18274 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
18275 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
18276 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
18277 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
18281 @vindex gnus-carpal
18282 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
18283 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
18284 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
18289 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18290 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18291 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
18293 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
18294 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
18295 Face used on buttons.
18297 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
18298 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
18299 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
18301 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18302 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18303 Buttons in the group buffer.
18305 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18306 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18307 Buttons in the summary buffer.
18309 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18310 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18311 Buttons in the server buffer.
18313 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18314 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18315 Buttons in the browse buffer.
18318 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
18319 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
18320 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
18328 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
18329 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
18330 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
18331 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
18332 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
18334 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
18335 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
18336 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
18338 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
18339 been idle for thirty minutes:
18342 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
18345 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
18349 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
18352 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
18353 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
18354 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18356 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
18357 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
18358 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
18359 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18361 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
18362 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
18363 @var{idle} minutes.
18365 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
18366 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
18369 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
18370 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
18371 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
18373 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
18374 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
18375 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
18376 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
18378 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
18379 your @file{.gnus} file:
18381 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
18383 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
18386 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
18387 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
18388 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
18389 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
18390 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
18391 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
18392 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
18393 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
18394 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
18395 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
18396 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
18398 @findex gnus-demon-init
18399 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
18400 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
18401 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
18402 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
18403 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
18405 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
18406 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
18407 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
18416 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
18417 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
18419 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
18420 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
18421 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
18422 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
18425 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
18426 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
18427 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
18428 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
18430 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
18431 this will make spam disappear.
18433 There are some variables to customize, of course:
18436 @item gnus-use-nocem
18437 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
18438 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
18441 @item gnus-nocem-groups
18442 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
18443 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
18444 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
18445 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
18447 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
18448 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
18449 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
18450 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
18451 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
18452 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
18454 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
18455 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
18457 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
18458 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
18459 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
18460 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
18461 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
18462 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
18463 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
18464 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
18465 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
18466 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
18468 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
18469 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
18472 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
18475 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
18476 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
18479 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
18482 The specs are applied left-to-right.
18485 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
18486 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
18488 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
18489 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
18490 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
18491 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
18493 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
18494 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
18497 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
18499 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
18507 This might be dangerous, though.
18509 @item gnus-nocem-directory
18510 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
18511 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
18512 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
18514 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18515 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18516 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
18517 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
18518 might then see old spam.
18520 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
18521 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
18522 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
18523 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
18524 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
18527 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18528 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18529 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
18530 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
18534 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
18535 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
18536 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
18537 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
18544 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
18545 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
18546 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
18548 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
18549 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
18550 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
18551 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
18552 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
18553 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
18554 @code{undo} function.
18556 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
18557 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
18558 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
18559 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
18560 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
18561 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
18562 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
18563 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
18564 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
18565 never be totally undoable.
18567 @findex gnus-undo-mode
18568 @vindex gnus-use-undo
18570 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
18571 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
18572 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
18573 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
18578 @section Moderation
18581 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
18582 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
18583 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
18586 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
18590 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
18593 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18595 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
18600 You split your incoming mail by matching on
18601 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
18602 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
18605 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
18606 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
18609 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
18610 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
18614 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
18617 (setq gnus-moderated-list
18618 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
18622 @node XEmacs Enhancements
18623 @section XEmacs Enhancements
18626 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
18630 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
18631 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
18632 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
18633 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
18646 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
18647 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
18648 over your shoulder as you read news.
18651 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
18652 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
18653 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
18654 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
18655 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
18660 @subsubsection Picon Basics
18662 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
18671 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
18672 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
18673 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
18674 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
18675 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
18676 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
18677 @code{GIF} formats.
18680 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18681 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
18682 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
18683 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
18684 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
18686 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18687 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
18688 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
18689 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
18690 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
18691 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18694 @node Picon Requirements
18695 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
18697 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
18698 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
18701 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
18702 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
18703 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
18705 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18706 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
18707 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
18708 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
18709 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
18713 @subsubsection Easy Picons
18715 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
18716 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
18719 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
18720 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
18723 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
18724 containing the Picons databases.
18726 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
18729 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18730 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
18735 @subsubsection Hard Picons
18743 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
18744 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
18745 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
18746 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
18747 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
18752 @item gnus-picons-database
18753 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18754 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
18755 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
18756 subdirectories. This is only useful if
18757 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
18758 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
18760 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18761 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18762 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
18763 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
18764 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
18765 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
18766 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18768 @item gnus-picons-display-where
18769 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18770 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
18771 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
18772 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
18773 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
18774 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
18775 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
18777 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18778 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18779 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
18784 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
18785 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
18787 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
18788 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
18791 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18793 @item gnus-article-display-picons
18794 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18795 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
18796 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
18798 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
18799 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18800 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
18806 @node Picon Useless Configuration
18807 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
18815 The following variables offer further control over how things are
18816 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
18817 don't need to worry about.
18821 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
18822 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
18823 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18824 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
18826 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
18827 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
18828 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
18829 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
18831 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
18832 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
18833 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18834 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
18835 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
18837 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18838 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18839 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
18840 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
18841 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
18842 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
18843 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
18845 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18846 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18847 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
18848 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
18850 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18851 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18852 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
18853 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
18854 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
18855 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
18856 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
18858 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18859 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18860 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18861 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18863 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18864 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18865 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18866 Defaults to @code{t}.
18868 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18869 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18870 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18871 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18873 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18874 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18875 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18877 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18878 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18879 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18880 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18882 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18883 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
18885 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18886 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18887 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18888 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18889 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18890 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18891 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18892 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18903 @subsection Smileys
18908 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18913 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18914 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18916 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18917 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18920 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18923 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18924 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18925 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18926 text and maps that to file names.
18928 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18929 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18930 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18931 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18932 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18933 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18935 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18936 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18938 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18939 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18940 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18942 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18943 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18947 @item smiley-data-directory
18948 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18949 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18951 @item smiley-flesh-color
18952 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18953 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18955 @item smiley-features-color
18956 @vindex smiley-features-color
18957 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18959 @item smiley-tongue-color
18960 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18961 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18963 @item smiley-circle-color
18964 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18965 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18967 @item smiley-mouse-face
18968 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18969 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18975 @subsection Toolbar
18985 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18986 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18987 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18988 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18989 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18991 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18992 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18993 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18995 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18996 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18997 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18999 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19000 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19001 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
19007 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
19010 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19011 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19012 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
19013 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
19014 unusual directory structure.
19016 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19017 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19018 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
19019 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
19021 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19022 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19023 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
19024 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
19025 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
19026 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
19028 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19029 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19030 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
19044 @node Fuzzy Matching
19045 @section Fuzzy Matching
19046 @cindex fuzzy matching
19048 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
19049 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
19051 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
19052 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
19053 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
19055 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
19056 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
19057 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
19058 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
19059 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
19062 @node Thwarting Email Spam
19063 @section Thwarting Email Spam
19067 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
19069 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
19070 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
19071 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
19072 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
19073 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
19074 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
19075 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
19076 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
19079 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
19080 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
19081 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
19082 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
19083 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
19084 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
19088 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
19089 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
19091 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
19092 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
19093 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
19094 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
19095 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
19096 part of the mail address.)
19099 (setq message-default-news-headers
19100 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
19103 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
19104 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
19109 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
19110 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
19111 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
19117 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
19118 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
19119 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
19120 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
19122 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
19123 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
19124 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
19125 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
19126 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
19127 your fancy split rule in this way:
19132 (to "larsi" "misc")
19136 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
19137 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
19138 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
19139 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
19140 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
19142 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
19143 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
19144 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
19145 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
19146 cosmic balance somewhat.
19148 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
19149 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
19150 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
19151 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
19154 @node Various Various
19155 @section Various Various
19161 @item gnus-home-directory
19162 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
19163 defaults to @file{~/}.
19165 @item gnus-directory
19166 @vindex gnus-directory
19167 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
19168 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
19169 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
19171 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
19172 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
19173 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
19174 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
19176 @item gnus-default-directory
19177 @vindex gnus-default-directory
19178 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
19179 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
19180 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
19181 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
19182 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
19183 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
19186 @vindex gnus-verbose
19187 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
19188 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
19189 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
19190 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
19191 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
19193 @item gnus-verbose-backends
19194 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
19195 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
19196 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
19198 @item nnheader-max-head-length
19199 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
19200 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
19201 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
19202 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
19203 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
19204 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
19205 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
19206 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
19207 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
19209 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
19210 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
19211 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
19212 read when doing the operation described above.
19214 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19215 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19217 @cindex invalid characters in file names
19218 @cindex characters in file names
19219 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
19220 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
19221 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
19224 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19228 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
19229 Windows (phooey) systems.
19231 @item gnus-hidden-properties
19232 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
19233 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
19234 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
19235 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
19237 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
19238 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
19239 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
19240 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
19241 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
19243 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
19244 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
19245 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
19247 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19248 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19250 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
19251 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
19252 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
19253 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
19256 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
19265 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
19266 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
19268 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
19270 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
19276 Not because of victories @*
19279 but for the common sunshine,@*
19281 the largess of the spring.
19285 but for the day's work done@*
19286 as well as I was able;@*
19287 not for a seat upon the dais@*
19288 but at the common table.@*
19293 @chapter Appendices
19296 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
19297 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
19298 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
19299 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
19300 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
19301 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
19302 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
19303 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
19311 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
19312 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
19314 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
19315 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
19316 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
19317 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
19318 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
19320 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
19321 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
19322 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
19323 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
19324 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
19325 appropriate name, don't you think?)
19327 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
19328 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
19329 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
19330 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
19333 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
19334 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
19335 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
19336 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
19337 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
19338 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
19339 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
19340 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
19341 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
19345 @node Gnus Versions
19346 @subsection Gnus Versions
19347 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
19349 @cindex September Gnus
19350 @cindex Quassia Gnus
19352 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
19353 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
19354 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
19356 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
19357 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
19359 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
19360 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
19362 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
19363 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
19365 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
19366 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
19369 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
19371 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
19372 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
19373 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
19374 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
19375 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
19376 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
19379 @node Other Gnus Versions
19380 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
19383 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
19384 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
19385 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
19386 @sc{mime} capabilities.
19388 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
19389 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
19390 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
19391 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
19398 What's the point of Gnus?
19400 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
19401 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
19402 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
19403 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
19404 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
19405 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
19406 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
19407 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
19408 keep track of millions of people who post?
19410 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
19411 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
19412 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
19413 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
19414 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
19415 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
19416 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
19417 every one of you to explore and invent.
19419 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
19420 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
19423 @node Compatibility
19424 @subsection Compatibility
19426 @cindex compatibility
19427 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
19428 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
19429 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
19434 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
19438 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
19441 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
19444 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
19445 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
19446 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
19447 important variables have their values copied into their global
19448 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
19449 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
19451 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
19452 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
19453 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
19454 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
19455 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
19459 @cindex highlighting
19460 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
19461 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
19462 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
19463 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
19464 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
19465 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
19468 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
19469 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
19470 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
19471 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
19473 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
19474 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
19475 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
19476 to stop doing it the old way.
19478 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
19480 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19482 @cindex reporting bugs
19484 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
19485 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
19486 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
19488 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
19489 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
19490 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
19491 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
19496 @subsection Conformity
19498 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
19499 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
19506 There are no known breaches of this standard.
19510 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
19512 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
19513 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
19514 We do have some breaches to this one.
19520 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
19521 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
19522 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
19523 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
19524 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
19529 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
19530 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
19531 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
19532 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
19536 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
19537 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
19542 @subsection Emacsen
19548 Gnus should work on :
19556 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
19560 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
19561 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
19564 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
19565 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
19566 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
19570 @node Gnus Development
19571 @subsection Gnus Development
19573 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
19574 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
19575 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
19576 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
19577 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
19578 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
19579 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
19580 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
19582 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
19583 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
19584 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
19585 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
19586 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
19589 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
19590 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
19591 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
19592 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
19593 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
19595 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
19596 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
19597 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
19598 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
19599 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
19600 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
19601 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
19602 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
19603 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
19604 can't be assumed to do so.
19609 @subsection Contributors
19610 @cindex contributors
19612 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
19613 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
19614 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
19615 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
19616 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
19617 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
19618 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
19619 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
19620 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
19621 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
19623 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
19629 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
19632 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
19633 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
19634 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
19635 functionality and stuff.
19638 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
19639 well as numerous other things).
19642 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
19645 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
19648 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
19651 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
19652 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
19655 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
19658 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
19659 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19662 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
19665 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
19668 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
19671 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
19674 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
19675 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
19678 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
19681 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
19684 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
19687 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
19691 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
19694 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
19697 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
19700 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
19701 well as autoconf support.
19705 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
19706 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
19708 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
19717 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
19721 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
19731 Alexei V. Barantsev,
19746 Massimo Campostrini,
19751 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
19752 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
19756 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
19759 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
19765 Michael Welsh Duggan,
19770 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
19774 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
19782 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
19784 Michelangelo Grigni,
19788 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
19790 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
19792 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
19799 François Felix Ingrand,
19800 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
19801 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
19803 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
19814 Peter Skov Knudsen,
19815 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
19817 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
19818 Thor Kristoffersen,
19821 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
19839 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
19840 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
19847 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
19852 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
19856 John McClary Prevost,
19862 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19867 Christian von Roques,
19870 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19877 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19879 Randal L. Schwartz,
19893 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19898 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19914 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19919 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19920 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19921 (550kB and counting).
19923 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19926 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19927 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19931 @subsection New Features
19932 @cindex new features
19935 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19936 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
19937 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19938 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19939 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
19942 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19943 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19944 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19947 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19949 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19954 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19955 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19958 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19959 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19962 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19965 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19966 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19967 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19970 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19971 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19972 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19973 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19976 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19977 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19980 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19981 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19982 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19985 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19986 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19989 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19990 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19991 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19994 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19995 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19996 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19999 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
20000 the @file{.emacs} file.
20003 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
20004 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20007 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
20008 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
20011 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
20012 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20015 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
20016 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
20019 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
20020 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20023 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
20026 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
20027 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
20030 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
20031 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
20034 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
20035 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
20038 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
20041 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
20042 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20045 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
20049 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
20053 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
20054 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
20057 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
20063 @node September Gnus
20064 @subsubsection September Gnus
20068 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
20072 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
20077 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
20078 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
20082 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
20083 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
20087 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
20091 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
20092 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
20095 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
20099 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20102 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
20105 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
20108 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
20112 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
20113 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
20116 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
20120 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
20124 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
20128 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
20132 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
20135 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
20136 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
20139 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
20143 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
20144 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
20147 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
20150 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
20151 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
20152 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20155 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
20159 The Gnus cache is much faster.
20162 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
20166 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
20167 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20170 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
20171 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
20174 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
20175 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20178 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
20179 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
20180 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
20183 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
20184 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
20187 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
20190 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20193 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
20196 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
20199 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
20200 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
20203 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
20207 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
20210 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
20215 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
20218 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
20222 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20225 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
20229 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
20232 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
20235 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
20236 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20239 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
20240 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
20244 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
20245 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
20248 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
20252 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
20253 buffer to allow easier treatment.
20256 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
20259 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
20263 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
20267 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
20268 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
20271 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
20275 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
20276 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20279 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
20280 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20283 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
20287 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20290 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
20293 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
20299 @subsubsection Red Gnus
20301 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
20305 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
20312 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
20315 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
20316 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20319 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
20320 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
20324 Article washing status can be displayed in the
20325 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
20328 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
20331 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
20332 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
20335 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
20339 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
20340 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
20344 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
20345 Server Internals}).
20348 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
20352 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
20355 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
20356 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
20359 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
20360 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
20361 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
20364 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
20365 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20368 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
20369 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
20372 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
20376 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
20377 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20380 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
20381 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20384 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
20388 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
20391 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
20395 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
20396 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20399 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
20400 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20403 A new command for reading collections of documents
20404 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
20405 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
20408 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
20412 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
20413 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
20416 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
20417 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
20418 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
20421 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
20422 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
20426 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
20430 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
20434 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
20439 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
20443 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
20447 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
20448 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
20451 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
20457 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
20459 New features in Gnus 5.6:
20464 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
20465 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
20466 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
20469 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
20470 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
20471 group, which is created automatically.
20474 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
20478 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
20481 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
20482 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
20485 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
20489 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
20492 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
20493 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
20496 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
20499 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
20500 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
20503 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
20504 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
20507 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
20508 control over simplification.
20511 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
20514 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
20518 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
20521 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
20524 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
20525 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
20526 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
20529 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
20530 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
20533 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
20537 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
20538 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
20541 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
20542 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
20545 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
20549 A history of where mails have been split is available.
20552 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
20555 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
20556 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
20559 A new function for citing in Message has been
20560 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
20563 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
20566 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
20570 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
20571 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
20574 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
20575 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
20578 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
20581 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
20585 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
20586 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
20588 New features in Gnus 5.8:
20592 @item The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
20593 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
20595 If you used procmail like in
20598 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
20599 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
20600 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
20601 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
20604 this now has changed to
20608 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
20612 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
20613 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
20615 @item Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
20616 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
20618 @item Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
20619 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
20621 @item @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
20622 called to position point.
20624 @item The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
20625 summary buffers and NOV files.
20627 @item @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
20628 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
20630 @item The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
20631 subtly different manner.
20633 @item New web-based backends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
20634 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
20635 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
20637 @item Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
20645 @section The Manual
20649 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20650 either @code{texi2dvi}
20652 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20653 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20655 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20657 The following conventions have been used:
20662 This is a @samp{string}
20665 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20668 This is a @file{file}
20671 This is a @code{symbol}
20675 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20679 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20682 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20685 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20688 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20689 ever get them confused.
20693 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20694 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20695 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20696 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20697 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20698 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20699 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20705 @node On Writing Manuals
20706 @section On Writing Manuals
20708 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20709 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20710 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20711 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20712 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20713 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20716 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20717 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20718 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20721 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20722 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20727 @section Terminology
20729 @cindex terminology
20734 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20735 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20736 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20737 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20738 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20742 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20743 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20744 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20745 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20749 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20753 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20758 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20759 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20760 is all done by the backends.
20764 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20765 default, way of getting news.
20769 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20770 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20775 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20776 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20780 A message that has been posted as news.
20783 @cindex mail message
20784 A message that has been mailed.
20788 A mail message or news article
20792 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20797 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20802 A line from the head of an article.
20806 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20807 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20811 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20812 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20813 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20814 normal @sc{head} format.
20818 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20819 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20820 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20821 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20822 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20823 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20825 @item killed groups
20826 @cindex killed groups
20827 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20828 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20830 @item zombie groups
20831 @cindex zombie groups
20832 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20835 @cindex active file
20836 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20837 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20838 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20841 @cindex bogus groups
20842 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20843 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20844 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20847 @cindex activating groups
20848 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20849 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20850 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20854 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20856 @item select method
20857 @cindex select method
20858 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20861 @item virtual server
20862 @cindex virtual server
20863 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20864 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20865 whole is a virtual server.
20869 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20870 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20873 @item ephemeral groups
20874 @cindex ephemeral groups
20875 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20876 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20877 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20880 @cindex solid groups
20881 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20882 group buffer are solid groups.
20884 @item sparse articles
20885 @cindex sparse articles
20886 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20887 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20891 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20892 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20896 @cindex thread root
20897 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20898 articles in the thread.
20902 An article that has responses.
20906 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20910 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20911 specified by RFC 1153.
20917 @node Customization
20918 @section Customization
20919 @cindex general customization
20921 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20922 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20923 for some quite common situations.
20926 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20927 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20928 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20929 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20933 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20934 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20936 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20937 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20938 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20942 @item gnus-read-active-file
20943 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20944 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20945 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20946 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20947 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20949 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20950 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20951 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20952 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20956 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20957 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20959 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20960 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20961 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20965 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20966 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20967 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20968 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20969 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20971 @item gnus-visible-headers
20972 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20973 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20974 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20975 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20977 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20979 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20980 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20981 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20984 @item gnus-use-full-window
20985 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20986 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20987 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20988 want to read them anyway.
20990 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20991 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20994 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20995 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20996 lines, which might save some time.
21000 @node Little Disk Space
21001 @subsection Little Disk Space
21004 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21005 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21009 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21010 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21011 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21012 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21015 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21016 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21017 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21018 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21021 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21022 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21023 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21024 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21025 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21031 @subsection Slow Machine
21032 @cindex slow machine
21034 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21035 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21037 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21038 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21040 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21041 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21042 summary buffer faster.
21046 @node Troubleshooting
21047 @section Troubleshooting
21048 @cindex troubleshooting
21050 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21058 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21061 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21062 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21066 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21067 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
21068 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
21069 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21072 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21076 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21077 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21078 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21079 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21080 something like that.
21083 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21086 @cindex reporting bugs
21088 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21090 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21091 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21092 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21093 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21095 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21096 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21097 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21098 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21101 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21102 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21103 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21104 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21105 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21106 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21108 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21109 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21110 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21113 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21114 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21116 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21117 @cindex ding mailing list
21118 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21119 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21123 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21124 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21126 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21127 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21128 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21129 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21132 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21133 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21134 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21135 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21136 and general methods of operation.
21139 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21140 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21141 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21142 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21143 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21144 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21145 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21146 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21147 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21151 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21152 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21153 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21154 @cindex utility functions
21156 @cindex internal variables
21158 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21159 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21160 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21164 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21165 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21166 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21168 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21169 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21170 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21172 @item gnus-group-real-name
21173 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21174 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21177 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21178 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21179 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21180 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21182 @item gnus-get-info
21183 @findex gnus-get-info
21184 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21186 @item gnus-group-unread
21187 @findex gnus-group-unread
21188 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21192 @findex gnus-active
21193 The active entry for @var{group}.
21195 @item gnus-set-active
21196 @findex gnus-set-active
21197 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21199 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21200 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21201 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21204 @item gnus-continuum-version
21205 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21206 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21207 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21210 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21211 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21212 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21214 @item gnus-news-group-p
21215 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21216 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21218 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21219 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21220 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21222 @item gnus-server-to-method
21223 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21224 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21226 @item gnus-server-equal
21227 @findex gnus-server-equal
21228 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21230 @item gnus-group-native-p
21231 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21232 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21234 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21235 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21236 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21238 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21239 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21240 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21242 @item group-group-find-parameter
21243 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21244 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21245 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21247 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21248 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21249 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21251 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21252 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21253 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21255 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21256 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21257 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21258 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21261 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21265 @item gnus-read-method
21266 @findex gnus-read-method
21267 Prompts the user for a select method.
21272 @node Backend Interface
21273 @subsection Backend Interface
21275 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21276 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21277 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21278 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21279 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21280 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21282 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21283 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21284 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21285 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21286 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21287 been opened, the function should fail.
21289 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21290 name. Take this example:
21294 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21295 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21298 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21299 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21301 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21302 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21303 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21305 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21306 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21307 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21309 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21310 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21311 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21312 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21313 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21314 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21317 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21318 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21319 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21320 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21323 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21326 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21329 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21330 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21331 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21332 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21333 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21334 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21338 @node Required Backend Functions
21339 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21343 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21345 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21346 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21347 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21348 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21350 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21351 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21352 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21353 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21355 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21356 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21357 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21358 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21359 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21360 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21361 number, do maximum fetches.
21363 Here's an example HEAD:
21366 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21367 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21368 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21369 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21370 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21371 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21372 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21374 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21375 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21376 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21380 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21381 these in the data buffer.
21383 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21387 head = error / valid-head
21388 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21389 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21390 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21391 header = <text> eol
21394 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21395 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21399 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21400 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21401 field = <text except TAB>
21404 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21408 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21410 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21411 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21413 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21414 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21415 server. In fact, it should do so.
21417 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21418 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21421 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21423 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21424 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21427 There should be no data returned.
21430 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21432 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21433 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21434 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21435 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21437 There should be no data returned.
21440 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21442 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21443 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21444 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21445 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21447 There should be no data returned.
21450 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21452 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21454 There should be no data returned.
21457 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21459 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21460 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21461 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21462 it would be nice if that were possible.
21464 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21465 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21466 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21467 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21468 into its article buffer.
21470 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21471 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21472 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21473 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21474 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21475 on successful article retrieval.
21478 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21480 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21481 making @var{group} the current group.
21483 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21486 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21489 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21492 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21493 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21494 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21495 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21496 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21497 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21498 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21499 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21502 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21503 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21504 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21508 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21510 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21511 a no-op on most backends.
21513 There should be no data returned.
21516 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21518 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21521 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21524 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21525 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21528 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21529 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21532 active-file = *active-line
21533 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21535 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21538 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21539 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21540 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21543 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21545 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21546 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21547 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21548 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21549 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21550 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21552 There should be no result data from this function.
21557 @node Optional Backend Functions
21558 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21562 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21564 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21565 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21566 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21568 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21569 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21570 former is in the same format as the data from
21571 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21572 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21575 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21579 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21581 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21582 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21583 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21584 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21585 should return the (altered) group info.
21587 There should be no result data from this function.
21590 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21592 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21593 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21594 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21595 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21596 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21597 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21598 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21599 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21601 There should be no result data from this function.
21604 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21606 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21607 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21608 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21609 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21610 propagate the mark information to the server.
21612 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21615 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21618 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
21619 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21620 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21621 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21622 mentioned) marks. MARK is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21623 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21624 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21625 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21626 not limit itself to these.
21628 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21629 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21630 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21631 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21633 An example action list:
21636 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21637 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21638 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21641 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21642 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21644 There should be no result data from this function.
21646 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21648 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21649 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21650 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21651 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21652 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21654 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21655 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21656 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21659 There should be no result data from this function.
21662 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21664 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21665 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21666 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21667 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21668 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21669 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21670 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21672 There should be no result data from this function.
21675 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21677 The result data from this function should be a description of
21681 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21683 description = <text>
21686 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21688 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21689 groups available on the server.
21692 description-buffer = *description-line
21696 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21698 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21699 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21700 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21703 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21705 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21707 There should be no return data.
21710 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21712 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21713 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21714 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21715 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21716 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21719 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21722 There should be no result data returned.
21725 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21728 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21729 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21731 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21732 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21733 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21734 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21735 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21736 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21738 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21739 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21742 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21743 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21745 There should be no data returned.
21748 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21750 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21751 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21752 this function in short order.
21754 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21755 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21757 There should be no data returned.
21760 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21762 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21763 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21765 There should be no data returned.
21768 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21770 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21771 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21772 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21774 There should be no data returned.
21777 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21779 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21780 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21782 There should be no data returned.
21787 @node Error Messaging
21788 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21790 @findex nnheader-report
21791 @findex nnheader-get-report
21792 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21793 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21794 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21795 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21796 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21797 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21800 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21802 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21805 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21806 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21807 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21808 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21810 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21811 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21812 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21815 @node Writing New Backends
21816 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21818 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21819 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21820 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21821 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21822 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21825 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21826 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21827 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21829 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21830 package called @code{nnoo}.
21832 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21833 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21839 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21840 parameters. For instance:
21843 (nnoo-declare nndir
21847 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21848 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21851 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21852 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21853 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21855 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21856 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21857 a function in those backends.
21860 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21861 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21862 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21865 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21866 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21867 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21869 @item nnoo-define-basics
21870 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21874 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21878 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21879 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21880 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21882 @item nnoo-map-functions
21883 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21884 functions from the parent backends.
21887 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21888 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21889 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21892 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21893 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21894 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21895 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21898 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21899 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21900 haven't already been defined.
21906 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21910 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21911 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21912 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21917 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21920 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21921 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21925 (require 'nnheader)
21929 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21931 (nnoo-declare nndir
21934 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21935 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21936 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21938 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21939 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21942 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
21944 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21945 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21946 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21948 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21949 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21951 ;;; Interface functions.
21953 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21955 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21956 (setq nndir-directory
21957 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21959 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21960 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21961 (push `(nndir-current-group
21962 ,(file-name-nondirectory
21963 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21965 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21966 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21968 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21970 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21971 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21972 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21973 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21974 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21978 nnmh-status-message
21980 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21986 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21987 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21989 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21990 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21991 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21992 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21994 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21995 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22000 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22003 The abilities can be:
22007 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22009 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22011 This backend supports both mail and news.
22013 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22016 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22017 articles and groups.
22019 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22020 true for almost all backends.
22021 @item prompt-address
22022 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22023 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22024 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22028 @node Mail-like Backends
22029 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22031 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22032 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22033 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22034 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22037 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22038 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22039 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22042 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22043 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22046 This function takes four parameters.
22050 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22053 @item exit-function
22054 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22056 @item temp-directory
22057 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22060 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22061 performed for one group only.
22064 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22065 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22066 find the article number assigned to this article.
22068 The function also uses the following variables:
22069 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22070 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22071 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22072 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22076 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22077 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22081 @node Score File Syntax
22082 @subsection Score File Syntax
22084 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22085 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22086 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22088 Here's a typical score file:
22092 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22099 BNF definition of a score file:
22102 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22103 element = rule / atom
22104 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22105 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22106 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22107 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22109 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22110 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22111 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22112 date-header = "date"
22113 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22114 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22115 score = "nil" / <integer>
22116 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22117 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22118 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22119 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22120 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22121 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22122 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22123 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22124 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22125 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22126 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22127 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22128 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22129 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22130 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22131 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22132 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22133 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22134 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22135 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22136 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22137 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22138 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22139 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22140 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22141 eval = "eval" space <form>
22142 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22145 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22148 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22149 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22150 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22151 one looong line, then that's ok.
22153 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22154 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22158 @subsection Headers
22160 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22161 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22162 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22163 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22165 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22166 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22167 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22168 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22169 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22170 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22171 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22173 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22174 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22175 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22176 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22177 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22179 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22180 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22186 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22187 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22189 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22190 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22191 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22192 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22194 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22198 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22201 is transformed into
22204 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22207 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22208 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22211 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22214 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22215 is slightly tricky:
22218 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22224 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22227 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22233 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22240 and is equal to the previous range.
22242 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22243 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22244 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22248 range = simple-range / normal-range
22249 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22250 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22251 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22252 number *[ " " contents ]
22255 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22256 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22257 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22258 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22259 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22264 @subsection Group Info
22266 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22267 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22268 describes the group.
22270 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22271 second is a more complex one:
22274 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22276 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22277 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22279 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22282 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22283 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22284 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22285 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22286 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22287 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22288 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22289 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22290 this section is about.
22292 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22293 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22294 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22296 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22299 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22300 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22301 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22302 group = quote <string> quote
22303 ralevel = rank / level
22304 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22305 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22306 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22308 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22309 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22310 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22311 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22314 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22315 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22318 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22319 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22322 @item gnus-info-group
22323 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22324 @findex gnus-info-group
22325 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22326 Get/set the group name.
22328 @item gnus-info-rank
22329 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22330 @findex gnus-info-rank
22331 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22332 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22334 @item gnus-info-level
22335 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22336 @findex gnus-info-level
22337 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22338 Get/set the group level.
22340 @item gnus-info-score
22341 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22342 @findex gnus-info-score
22343 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22344 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22346 @item gnus-info-read
22347 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22348 @findex gnus-info-read
22349 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22350 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22352 @item gnus-info-marks
22353 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22354 @findex gnus-info-marks
22355 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22356 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22358 @item gnus-info-method
22359 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22360 @findex gnus-info-method
22361 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22362 Get/set the group select method.
22364 @item gnus-info-params
22365 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22366 @findex gnus-info-params
22367 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22368 Get/set the group parameters.
22371 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22372 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22374 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22375 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22376 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22377 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22380 @node Extended Interactive
22381 @subsection Extended Interactive
22382 @cindex interactive
22383 @findex gnus-interactive
22385 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22386 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22387 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22390 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22391 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22396 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22397 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22398 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22399 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22400 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22401 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22402 @code{interactive}.
22404 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22409 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22410 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22414 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22415 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22416 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22419 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22423 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22427 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22433 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22434 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22438 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22439 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22440 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22442 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22443 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22444 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22445 Gnus, that's very useful.
22447 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22448 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22449 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22450 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22451 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22452 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22453 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22454 following function:
22457 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22461 (,function ,@@args))
22465 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22466 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22467 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22470 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22471 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22472 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22474 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22475 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22476 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22479 @node Various File Formats
22480 @subsection Various File Formats
22483 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22484 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22488 @node Active File Format
22489 @subsubsection Active File Format
22491 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22492 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22495 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22498 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22499 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22500 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22501 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22502 no.general 1000 900 y
22505 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22508 active = *group-line
22509 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
22510 group = <non-white-space string>
22512 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22513 low-number = <positive integer>
22514 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22517 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22518 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22521 @node Newsgroups File Format
22522 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22524 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22525 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22526 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22529 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22530 Here's the definition:
22534 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22535 group = <non-white-space string>
22537 description = <string>
22542 @node Emacs for Heathens
22543 @section Emacs for Heathens
22545 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22546 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22547 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22548 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22549 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22550 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22551 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22555 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22556 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22561 @subsection Keystrokes
22565 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22568 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22571 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22572 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22573 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22574 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22575 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22576 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22578 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22579 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22580 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22581 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22582 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22583 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22584 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22586 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22587 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22588 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22589 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22590 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22591 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22592 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22594 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22595 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22596 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22597 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22598 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22604 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22606 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22607 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22608 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22609 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22611 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22612 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22613 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22614 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22615 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22616 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22617 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22620 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22621 write the following:
22624 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22627 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22628 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22629 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22632 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22633 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22634 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22635 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22636 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22638 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22639 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22640 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22644 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22648 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22651 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22652 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22655 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22658 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22659 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22662 @include gnus-faq.texi
22683 % LocalWords: Backend BNF mucho Backends backends detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
22684 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
22685 % LocalWords: nnmbox backend newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
22686 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
22687 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref