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4 @settitle Gnus 5.4.54 Manual
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233 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
240 \thispagestyle{empty}
242 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
244 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
245 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
246 are preserved on all copies.
248 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
249 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
250 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
251 permission notice identical to this one.
253 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
254 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
263 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
265 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
267 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
268 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
269 are preserved on all copies.
272 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
273 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
274 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
275 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
278 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
279 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
280 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
281 permission notice identical to this one.
283 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
284 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
290 @title Gnus 5.4.54 Manual
292 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
295 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
296 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
302 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
303 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
304 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
305 permission notice identical to this one.
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
308 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
317 @top The Gnus Newsreader
321 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
322 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
323 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
326 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.4.54.
337 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
338 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
340 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
341 being accused of plagiarism:
343 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
344 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
345 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
346 even read news with it!
348 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
349 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
350 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
351 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
352 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
359 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
360 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
361 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
362 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
363 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
364 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
365 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
366 * Various:: General purpose settings.
367 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
368 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
369 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
370 * Key Index:: Key Index.
374 @chapter Starting Gnus
379 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
380 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
383 @findex gnus-other-frame
384 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
385 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
386 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
388 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
392 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
393 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
394 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
395 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
396 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
397 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
398 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
399 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
400 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
401 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
402 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
406 @node Finding the News
407 @section Finding the News
410 @vindex gnus-select-method
412 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
413 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
414 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
415 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
418 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
419 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
422 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
425 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
428 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
431 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
432 certainly be much faster.
434 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
436 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
437 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
438 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
439 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
440 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
441 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
442 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
444 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
445 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
446 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
447 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
449 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
450 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
451 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
452 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
453 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
454 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
456 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
458 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
459 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
460 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
461 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
462 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
463 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
465 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
467 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
468 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
469 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
470 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
471 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
472 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
475 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
476 would typically set this variable to
479 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
484 @section The First Time
485 @cindex first time usage
487 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
488 be subscribed by default.
490 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
491 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
492 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
493 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
496 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
497 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
498 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
500 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
501 help you with most common problems.
503 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
504 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
508 @node The Server is Down
509 @section The Server is Down
510 @cindex server errors
512 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
513 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
514 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
516 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
517 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
518 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
519 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
520 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
521 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
522 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
524 @findex gnus-no-server
525 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
527 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
528 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
529 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
530 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
531 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
532 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
537 @section Slave Gnusae
540 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
541 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
542 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
543 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
545 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
548 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
549 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
550 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
551 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
552 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
553 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
554 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
556 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
557 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
558 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
559 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
560 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
561 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
562 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
563 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
565 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
566 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
569 @node Fetching a Group
570 @section Fetching a Group
571 @cindex fetching a group
573 @findex gnus-fetch-group
574 It it sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
575 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
576 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
577 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
578 It takes the group name as a parameter.
586 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
587 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
588 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
589 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
590 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
591 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
592 is @code{t} by default. If you set this variable to @code{always}, then
593 Gnus will query the backends for new groups even when you do the @kbd{g}
594 command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
597 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
598 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
599 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
603 @node Checking New Groups
604 @subsection Checking New Groups
606 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
607 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
608 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
609 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
610 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
611 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
612 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
613 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
614 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
615 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
617 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
618 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
619 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
620 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
621 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
622 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
623 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
624 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
625 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
626 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
627 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
629 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
630 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
631 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
632 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
633 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
634 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
637 @node Subscription Methods
638 @subsection Subscription Methods
640 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
641 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
642 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
644 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
645 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
647 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
651 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
652 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
653 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
654 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
655 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
657 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
658 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
659 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
661 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
662 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
663 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
665 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
666 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
667 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
668 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
669 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
670 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
671 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
672 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
673 up. Or something like that.
675 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
676 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
677 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
678 you about @strong{all} new groups.
680 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
681 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
686 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
687 A closely related variable is
688 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
689 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
690 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
691 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
694 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
695 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
696 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
699 @node Filtering New Groups
700 @subsection Filtering New Groups
702 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
703 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
704 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
707 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
710 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
711 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
712 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
713 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
714 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
715 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
716 subscribing these groups.
717 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
718 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
720 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
721 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
722 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
723 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
724 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
725 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
726 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
727 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
729 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
730 Yet another variable that meddles here is
731 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
732 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
733 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
734 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
735 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
736 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
737 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
738 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
740 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
741 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
744 @node Changing Servers
745 @section Changing Servers
746 @cindex changing servers
748 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
749 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
750 very flaky and you want to use another.
752 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
753 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
757 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
758 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
759 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
760 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
763 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
764 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
765 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
766 functions more than absolutely necessary.
768 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
769 @findex gnus-change-server
770 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
771 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
772 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
773 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
774 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
776 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
777 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
778 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
779 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
780 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
782 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
783 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
784 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
785 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
786 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
787 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
791 @section Startup Files
792 @cindex startup files
797 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
798 information is traditionally stored in this file.
800 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
801 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
802 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
803 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
804 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
805 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
806 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
808 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
809 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
810 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
811 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
813 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
814 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
815 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
816 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
817 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
818 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
820 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
821 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
822 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
823 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
824 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
825 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
826 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
827 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
828 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
829 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
830 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
831 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
833 @vindex gnus-startup-file
834 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
835 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
836 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
838 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
839 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
840 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
841 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
842 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
843 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
844 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
845 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
846 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
847 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
850 (defun turn-off-backup ()
851 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
853 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
854 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
857 @vindex gnus-init-file
858 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
859 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
860 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
861 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
862 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
863 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
864 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
865 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
866 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
875 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
876 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
877 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
878 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
879 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
882 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
883 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
886 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
887 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
888 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
890 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
891 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
892 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
893 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
894 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
895 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
898 @node The Active File
899 @section The Active File
901 @cindex ignored groups
903 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
904 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
905 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
907 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
908 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
909 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
910 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
911 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
912 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
913 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
916 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
917 @c if you set it to anything else.
919 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
921 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
922 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
923 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
925 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
926 you actually subscribe to.
928 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
929 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
930 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
931 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
933 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
934 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
935 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
936 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
937 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
938 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
940 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
941 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
942 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
943 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
944 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
945 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
947 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
948 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
950 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
951 secondary select methods.
954 @node Startup Variables
955 @section Startup Variables
960 @vindex gnus-load-hook
961 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
962 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
963 times you start Gnus.
965 @item gnus-startup-hook
966 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
967 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
969 @item gnus-started-hook
970 @vindex gnus-started-hook
971 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
974 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
975 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
976 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
977 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
978 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
979 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
980 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
981 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
983 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
984 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
985 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
986 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
987 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
988 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
990 @item gnus-no-groups-message
991 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
992 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
994 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
995 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
996 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
998 @item gnus-startup-jingle
999 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1000 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1001 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1006 @node The Group Buffer
1007 @chapter The Group Buffer
1008 @cindex group buffer
1010 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1011 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1012 long as Gnus is active.
1015 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1016 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1017 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1018 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1019 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1020 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1021 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1022 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1023 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1024 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1025 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1026 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1027 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1028 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1029 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1030 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1031 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1035 @node Group Buffer Format
1036 @section Group Buffer Format
1039 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1040 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1041 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1045 @node Group Line Specification
1046 @subsection Group Line Specification
1047 @cindex group buffer format
1049 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1050 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1052 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1055 25: news.announce.newusers
1056 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1061 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1062 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1063 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1064 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
1066 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1067 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1068 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1069 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1070 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1071 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1073 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1075 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1076 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1077 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1078 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1081 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1082 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1083 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1085 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1090 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1093 Whether the group is subscribed.
1096 Level of subscribedness.
1099 Number of unread articles.
1102 Number of dormant articles.
1105 Number of ticked articles.
1108 Number of read articles.
1111 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1112 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1115 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1118 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1127 Newsgroup description.
1130 @samp{m} if moderated.
1133 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1142 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1146 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1149 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1150 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1151 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1152 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1153 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1156 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1158 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1162 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1166 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1167 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1168 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1169 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1170 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1171 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1176 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1177 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1178 group, or a bogus native group.
1181 @node Group Modeline Specification
1182 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1183 @cindex group modeline
1185 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1186 The mode line can be changed by setting
1187 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1188 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1192 The native news server.
1194 The native select method.
1198 @node Group Highlighting
1199 @subsection Group Highlighting
1200 @cindex highlighting
1201 @cindex group highlighting
1203 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1204 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1205 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1206 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1207 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1209 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1213 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1215 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1216 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1217 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1219 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1221 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1223 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))))
1226 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1233 The number of unread articles in the group.
1237 Whether the group is a mail group.
1239 The level of the group.
1241 The score of the group.
1243 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1245 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1248 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1249 topic being inserted.
1252 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1253 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1254 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1256 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1257 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1258 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1259 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1260 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1263 @node Group Maneuvering
1264 @section Group Maneuvering
1265 @cindex group movement
1267 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1268 expected, hopefully.
1274 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1275 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1276 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1282 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1283 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1284 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1288 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1289 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1293 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1294 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1298 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1299 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1300 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1304 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1305 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1306 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1309 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1315 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1316 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1317 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1322 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1323 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1324 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1328 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1329 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1330 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1333 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1334 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1335 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1336 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1340 @node Selecting a Group
1341 @section Selecting a Group
1342 @cindex group selection
1347 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1348 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1349 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1350 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1351 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1352 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1353 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1354 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1355 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1356 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1360 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1361 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1362 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1363 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1364 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1368 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1369 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1370 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1371 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1372 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1373 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1374 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1375 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer.
1376 This might be useful if you want to toggle threading before entering the
1380 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1381 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1382 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1383 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1384 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1387 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1388 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1389 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1390 doing any processing of its contents
1391 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1392 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1393 manner will have no permanent effects.
1397 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1398 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1399 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1400 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1401 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1402 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1403 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1404 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1407 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1408 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1409 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1410 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1415 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1416 full summary buffer.
1419 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1422 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1426 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1427 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1428 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1432 @node Subscription Commands
1433 @section Subscription Commands
1434 @cindex subscription
1442 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1443 Toggle subscription to the current group
1444 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1450 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1451 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1452 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1453 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1459 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1460 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1466 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1467 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1470 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1471 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1472 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1473 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1474 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1480 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1481 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1485 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1486 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1489 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1490 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1491 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1492 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1493 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1494 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1495 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1496 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1497 @file{.newsrc} file.
1501 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1511 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1512 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1513 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1514 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1515 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1520 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1521 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1522 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1526 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1527 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1528 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1530 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1531 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1532 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1533 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1534 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1535 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1542 @section Group Levels
1546 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1547 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1548 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1549 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1550 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1552 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1558 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1559 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1560 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1561 prompted for a level.
1564 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1565 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1566 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1567 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1568 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1569 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1570 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1571 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1572 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1573 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1574 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1575 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1576 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1577 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1578 for reasons of efficiency.
1580 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1581 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1583 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1584 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1585 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1587 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1588 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1589 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1590 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1591 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1592 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1593 relevant legal ranges.
1595 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1596 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1597 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1598 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1599 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1600 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1603 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1604 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1605 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1608 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1609 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1610 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1611 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1614 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1615 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1616 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1617 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1619 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1620 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1621 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1622 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1623 5. The default is 6.
1627 @section Group Score
1630 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1631 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1632 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1635 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1636 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1637 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1638 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1639 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1640 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1641 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1643 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1644 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1645 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1646 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1647 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1648 action after each summary exit, you can add
1649 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1650 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1651 slow things down somewhat.
1654 @node Marking Groups
1655 @section Marking Groups
1656 @cindex marking groups
1658 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1659 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1660 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1661 bidding on those groups.
1663 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1664 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1665 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1673 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1674 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1680 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1681 Remove the mark from the current group
1682 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1686 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1687 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1691 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1692 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1696 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1697 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1701 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1702 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1703 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1706 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1708 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1709 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1710 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1711 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1712 the command to be executed.
1715 @node Foreign Groups
1716 @section Foreign Groups
1717 @cindex foreign groups
1719 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1720 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1721 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1722 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1729 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1730 @cindex making groups
1731 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1732 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1733 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1737 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1738 @cindex renaming groups
1739 Rename the current group to something else
1740 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1741 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1747 @findex gnus-group-customize
1748 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1752 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1753 @cindex renaming groups
1754 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1755 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1759 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1760 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1761 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1765 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1766 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1767 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1771 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1773 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1774 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1779 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1780 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1784 @cindex (ding) archive
1785 @cindex archive group
1786 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1787 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1788 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1789 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1790 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1791 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1792 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1796 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1798 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1799 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1800 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1801 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1805 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1807 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1808 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1809 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1813 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1814 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1816 Make a group based on some file or other
1817 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1818 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1819 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1820 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1821 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1822 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1823 @xref{Document Groups}.
1827 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1832 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1833 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1834 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1835 search engine type and the search string. Legal search engine types
1836 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1837 @xref{Web Searches}.
1840 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1841 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1842 This function will delete the current group
1843 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1844 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1845 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1846 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1850 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1851 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1852 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1856 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1857 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1858 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1861 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1864 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1865 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1866 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1867 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1868 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1871 @node Group Parameters
1872 @section Group Parameters
1873 @cindex group parameters
1875 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1880 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1881 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1882 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1883 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1884 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1885 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1886 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1887 copies of your followups.
1889 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1890 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1891 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1892 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1893 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1894 list address instead.
1898 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1899 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1900 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1901 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1902 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1904 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
1905 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
1906 sending the message.
1908 @item broken-reply-to
1909 @cindex broken-reply-to
1910 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1911 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1912 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1913 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1914 broken behavior. So there!
1918 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
1919 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
1923 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, Gnus will treat
1924 all responses as if they were responses to news articles. This can be
1925 useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a news group.
1929 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1930 @code{t}, new composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1931 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1932 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1933 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence over
1934 any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later).
1938 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
1939 . t)}, , all articles that are read will be marked as expirable. For an
1940 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1943 @cindex total-expire
1944 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
1945 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
1946 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1947 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
1952 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1953 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1954 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1955 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1956 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1957 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1960 @cindex score file group parameter
1961 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1962 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1963 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1966 @cindex adapt file group parameter
1967 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
1968 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
1969 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
1972 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1973 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1974 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1975 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1978 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} says which articles to
1979 display on entering the group. Legal values are:
1983 Display all articles, both read and unread.
1986 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
1991 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
1992 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
1993 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
1996 @item @var{(variable form)}
1997 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1998 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
1999 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2000 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2001 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2002 @code{eval}ed there.
2004 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2005 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2006 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2007 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2008 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2012 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
2014 Also @pxref{Topic Parameters}.
2016 Here's an example group parameter list:
2019 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2024 @node Listing Groups
2025 @section Listing Groups
2026 @cindex group listing
2028 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
2036 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2037 List all groups that have unread articles
2038 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2039 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2040 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2041 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2048 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2049 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2050 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2051 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2052 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2053 unsubscribed groups).
2057 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2058 List all unread groups on a specific level
2059 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2060 with no unread articles.
2064 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2065 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2066 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2067 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2072 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2073 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2077 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2078 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2079 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2083 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2084 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2088 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2089 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
2090 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2091 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2092 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2093 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list group that
2094 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they are killed groups.
2095 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2099 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2100 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2101 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2105 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2106 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2107 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2111 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2112 @cindex visible group parameter
2113 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2114 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2115 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2116 get the same effect.
2118 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2119 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2120 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2121 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2122 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2125 @node Sorting Groups
2126 @section Sorting Groups
2127 @cindex sorting groups
2129 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2130 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2131 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2132 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2133 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2134 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2139 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2140 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2141 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2143 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2144 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2145 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2147 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2148 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2149 Sort by group level.
2151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2153 Sort by group score.
2155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2157 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2158 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
2160 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2161 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2162 Sort by number of unread articles.
2164 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2165 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2166 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2171 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2172 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2176 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2177 some sorting criteria:
2181 @kindex G S a (Group)
2182 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2183 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2184 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2187 @kindex G S u (Group)
2188 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2189 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2190 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2193 @kindex G S l (Group)
2194 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2195 Sort the group buffer by group level
2196 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2199 @kindex G S v (Group)
2200 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2201 Sort the group buffer by group score
2202 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2205 @kindex G S r (Group)
2206 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2207 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2208 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2211 @kindex G S m (Group)
2212 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2213 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2214 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2218 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2220 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2224 @kindex G P a (Group)
2225 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2226 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2227 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2230 @kindex G P u (Group)
2231 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2232 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2233 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2236 @kindex G P l (Group)
2237 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2238 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2239 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2242 @kindex G P v (Group)
2243 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2244 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2245 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}).
2248 @kindex G P r (Group)
2249 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2250 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2251 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}).
2254 @kindex G P m (Group)
2255 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2256 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2257 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2263 @node Group Maintenance
2264 @section Group Maintenance
2265 @cindex bogus groups
2270 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2271 Find bogus groups and delete them
2272 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2276 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2277 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2278 If given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2282 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2283 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2284 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2285 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2288 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2289 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2290 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2291 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2296 @node Browse Foreign Server
2297 @section Browse Foreign Server
2298 @cindex foreign servers
2299 @cindex browsing servers
2304 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2305 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2306 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2307 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2310 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2311 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2312 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2313 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2315 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2320 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2321 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2325 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2326 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2329 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2330 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2331 Enter the current group and display the first article
2332 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2335 @kindex RET (Browse)
2336 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2337 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2341 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2342 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2343 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2349 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2350 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2354 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2355 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2356 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2361 @section Exiting Gnus
2362 @cindex exiting Gnus
2364 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2369 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2370 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2371 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2372 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2376 @findex gnus-group-exit
2377 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2381 @findex gnus-group-quit
2382 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2383 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2386 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2387 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2388 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2389 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2390 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2395 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2396 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2397 trying to customize meta-variables.
2402 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2403 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2404 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2410 @section Group Topics
2413 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2414 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2415 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2416 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2417 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2418 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2426 2: alt.religion.emacs
2429 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2431 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2432 13: comp.sources.unix
2435 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2437 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2438 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2439 is a toggling command.)
2441 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2442 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2443 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2444 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2447 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2448 the hook for the group mode:
2451 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2455 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2456 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2457 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2458 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2459 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2463 @node Topic Variables
2464 @subsection Topic Variables
2465 @cindex topic variables
2467 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2468 really neat, I think.
2470 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2471 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2472 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2485 Number of groups in the topic.
2487 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2489 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2492 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2493 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2494 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2497 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2498 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2500 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2501 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2502 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2505 @node Topic Commands
2506 @subsection Topic Commands
2507 @cindex topic commands
2509 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2510 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2511 definitions slightly.
2517 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2518 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2519 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2523 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2524 Move the current group to some other topic
2525 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2526 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2530 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2531 Copy the current group to some other topic
2532 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2533 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2537 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2538 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2539 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2540 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2544 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2545 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2546 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2550 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2551 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2552 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2556 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2557 Toggle hiding empty topics
2558 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2562 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2563 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2564 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2567 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2568 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2569 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2570 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2574 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2576 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2577 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2578 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2579 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2580 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2581 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2584 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2585 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2586 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2587 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2588 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2592 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2593 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2594 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2598 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2599 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2600 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2605 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2606 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2609 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2610 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2611 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2615 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2616 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2617 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2621 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2622 @cindex group parameters
2623 @cindex topic parameters
2625 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2626 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2632 @subsection Topic Sorting
2633 @cindex topic sorting
2635 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2641 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2642 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2643 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2644 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2647 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2648 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2649 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2650 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2653 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2654 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2655 Sort the current topic by group level
2656 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2659 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2660 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2661 Sort the current topic by group score
2662 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}).
2665 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2666 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2667 Sort the current topic by group rank
2668 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2671 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2672 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2673 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2674 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2678 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2681 @node Topic Topology
2682 @subsection Topic Topology
2683 @cindex topic topology
2686 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2692 2: alt.religion.emacs
2695 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2697 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2698 13: comp.sources.unix
2701 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2702 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2703 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2708 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2709 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2713 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2714 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2715 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2716 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2717 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2718 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2720 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2721 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2722 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2725 @node Topic Parameters
2726 @subsection Topic Parameters
2727 @cindex topic parameters
2729 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2730 ancestor) topic parameters. All legal group parameters are legal topic
2731 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2733 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2734 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2735 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2736 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2742 2: alt.religion.emacs
2746 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2748 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2749 13: comp.sources.unix
2753 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2754 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2755 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2756 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2757 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2758 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2760 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2761 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2762 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2763 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2764 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2766 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2767 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2768 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2769 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2770 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2771 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2772 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2773 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2776 @node Misc Group Stuff
2777 @section Misc Group Stuff
2780 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2781 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2782 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2783 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2790 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2791 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2792 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2796 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2797 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2798 group name will be used as the default.
2802 @findex gnus-group-mail
2803 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2807 Variables for the group buffer:
2811 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2812 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2813 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2816 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2817 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2818 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2819 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2822 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2823 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2824 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2825 whether they are empty or not.
2830 @node Scanning New Messages
2831 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2832 @cindex new messages
2833 @cindex scanning new news
2839 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2840 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2841 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2842 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2843 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2848 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2849 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2850 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2851 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2852 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2853 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2855 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2856 @cindex activating groups
2858 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2859 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2864 @findex gnus-group-restart
2865 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2866 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2867 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2871 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2872 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2874 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2875 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2879 @node Group Information
2880 @subsection Group Information
2881 @cindex group information
2882 @cindex information on groups
2889 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2890 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2893 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2894 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2895 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2896 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2897 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2898 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
2899 for fetching the file.
2901 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2902 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2907 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
2908 @cindex describing groups
2909 @cindex group description
2910 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2911 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2912 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2916 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2917 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2918 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2925 @findex gnus-version
2926 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2930 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2931 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2934 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2937 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2938 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2942 @node Group Timestamp
2943 @subsection Group Timestamp
2945 @cindex group timestamps
2947 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
2948 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
2949 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
2952 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
2955 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
2957 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
2958 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
2961 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2962 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
2965 This will result in lines looking like:
2968 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
2969 0: custom 19961002T012713
2972 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
2973 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
2977 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2978 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
2983 @subsection File Commands
2984 @cindex file commands
2990 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2991 @vindex gnus-init-file
2992 @cindex reading init file
2993 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2994 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2998 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2999 @cindex saving .newsrc
3000 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3001 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3002 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3005 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3006 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3007 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3012 @node The Summary Buffer
3013 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3014 @cindex summary buffer
3016 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3017 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3019 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3020 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3022 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3025 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3026 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3027 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3028 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3029 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3030 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3031 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3032 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3033 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3034 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3035 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3036 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3037 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3038 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3039 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3040 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3041 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3042 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3043 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3044 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3045 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3046 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3047 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3048 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3049 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3050 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3051 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3055 @node Summary Buffer Format
3056 @section Summary Buffer Format
3057 @cindex summary buffer format
3060 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3061 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3062 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3065 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3066 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3067 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3068 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3069 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3070 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
3071 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3072 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3073 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3074 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3075 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3077 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3078 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3079 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3080 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
3083 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3084 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3086 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3087 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3088 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3089 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3090 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3092 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3094 The following format specification characters are understood:
3102 Subject if the article is the root or the previous article had a
3103 different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3104 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
3106 Full @code{From} header.
3108 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3110 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3111 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3112 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3113 may be more thorough.
3115 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3118 Number of lines in the article.
3120 Number of characters in the article.
3122 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3124 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3125 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3127 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3128 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3130 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3131 for adopted articles.
3133 One space for each thread level.
3135 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3143 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3144 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3145 default level. If the difference between
3146 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3147 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3155 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3157 The @code{Date} in @code{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS} format.
3163 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3164 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3166 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3167 article has any children.
3171 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3172 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
3173 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3174 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3175 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3176 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3179 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3180 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3181 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3182 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
3183 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3184 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3186 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3187 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3189 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3192 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3193 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3195 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3196 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3197 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3198 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3200 Here are the elements you can play with:
3206 Unprefixed group name.
3208 Current article number.
3212 Number of unread articles in this group.
3214 Number of unselected articles in this group.
3216 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3217 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3218 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3219 and no unselected ones.
3221 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3222 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3224 Subject of the current article.
3228 Name of the current score file.
3230 Number of dormant articles.
3232 Number of ticked articles.
3234 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3236 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3240 @node Summary Highlighting
3241 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3245 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3246 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3247 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3248 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3249 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3251 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3252 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3253 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3254 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3256 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3257 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3258 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
3259 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3261 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3262 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3263 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3264 list where the elements are on the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3265 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3266 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3268 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3269 ((> score default) . bold))
3271 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3272 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3276 @node Summary Maneuvering
3277 @section Summary Maneuvering
3278 @cindex summary movement
3280 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3281 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3283 None of these commands select articles.
3288 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3289 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3290 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3291 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3292 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3296 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3297 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3298 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3299 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3300 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3305 @kindex G j (Summary)
3306 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3307 Ask for an article number and then go to that article
3308 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3311 @kindex G g (Summary)
3312 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3313 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
3314 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3317 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3318 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3319 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3320 to the group buffer.
3322 Variables related to summary movement:
3326 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3327 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3328 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3329 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3330 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3331 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3332 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3333 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3334 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3335 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3336 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3337 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3338 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3339 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3341 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3342 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3343 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3344 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3345 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3346 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3347 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3349 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3350 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3351 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3352 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3353 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3355 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3356 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3357 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3358 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3359 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3360 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3361 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3362 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3368 @node Choosing Articles
3369 @section Choosing Articles
3370 @cindex selecting articles
3373 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3374 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3378 @node Choosing Commands
3379 @subsection Choosing Commands
3381 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3382 and they all select and display an article.
3386 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3387 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3388 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3389 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3394 @kindex G n (Summary)
3395 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3396 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3401 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3402 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3407 @kindex G N (Summary)
3408 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3409 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3414 @kindex G P (Summary)
3415 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3416 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3419 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3420 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3421 Go to the next article with the same subject
3422 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3425 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3426 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3427 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3428 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3432 @kindex G f (Summary)
3434 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3435 Go to the first unread article
3436 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3440 @kindex G b (Summary)
3442 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3443 Go to the article with the highest score
3444 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3449 @kindex G l (Summary)
3450 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3451 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3454 @kindex G p (Summary)
3455 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3456 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3457 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3458 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3459 history as you like.
3463 @node Choosing Variables
3464 @subsection Choosing Variables
3466 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3469 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3470 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3471 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3472 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3473 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3474 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3476 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3477 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3478 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3479 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3481 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3482 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3483 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3484 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3485 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3486 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3487 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3488 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3489 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3490 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3491 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3492 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3493 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3494 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3499 @node Paging the Article
3500 @section Scrolling the Article
3501 @cindex article scrolling
3506 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3507 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3508 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3509 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3510 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3513 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3514 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3515 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3518 @kindex RET (Summary)
3519 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3520 Scroll the current article one line forward
3521 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3525 @kindex A g (Summary)
3527 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3528 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3529 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3530 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3531 the way it came from the server.
3536 @kindex A < (Summary)
3537 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3538 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3539 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3544 @kindex A > (Summary)
3545 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3546 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3550 @kindex A s (Summary)
3552 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3553 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3554 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3559 @node Reply Followup and Post
3560 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3563 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3564 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3568 @node Summary Mail Commands
3569 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3571 @cindex composing mail
3573 Commands for composing a mail message:
3579 @kindex S r (Summary)
3581 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3582 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3583 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3588 @kindex S R (Summary)
3589 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3590 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3591 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3592 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3595 @kindex S w (Summary)
3596 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3597 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3598 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}).
3601 @kindex S W (Summary)
3602 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3603 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3604 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3605 the process/prefix convention.
3608 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3609 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3610 Forward the current article to some other person
3611 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3612 headers of the forwarded article.
3617 @kindex S m (Summary)
3618 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3619 Send a mail to some other person
3620 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3623 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3624 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3625 @cindex bouncing mail
3626 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3627 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3628 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3629 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3630 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3631 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3632 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3633 very well fail, though.
3636 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3637 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3638 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3639 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3640 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3641 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3642 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3643 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3644 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3645 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3647 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3648 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3649 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3650 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3651 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3653 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3654 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3657 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3658 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3659 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3660 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3661 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3664 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3665 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3666 @cindex crossposting
3667 @cindex excessive crossposting
3668 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3669 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3671 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3672 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3673 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3674 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3675 command understands the process/prefix convention
3676 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3681 @node Summary Post Commands
3682 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3684 @cindex composing news
3686 Commands for posting a news article:
3692 @kindex S p (Summary)
3693 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3694 Post an article to the current group
3695 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3700 @kindex S f (Summary)
3701 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3702 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3706 @kindex S F (Summary)
3708 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3709 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3710 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3711 process/prefix convention.
3714 @kindex S n (Summary)
3715 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3716 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3717 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3720 @kindex S n (Summary)
3721 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3722 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3723 message through mail and include the original message
3724 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3725 the process/prefix convention.
3728 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3729 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3730 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3731 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3732 headers of the forwarded article.
3735 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3736 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3738 @cindex making digests
3739 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3740 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3741 process/prefix convention.
3744 @kindex S u (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3746 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3747 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3751 @node Canceling and Superseding
3752 @section Canceling Articles
3753 @cindex canceling articles
3754 @cindex superseding articles
3756 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3757 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3759 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3761 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3763 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3764 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3765 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3766 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3768 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3769 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3772 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3773 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3774 your original article.
3776 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3778 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3779 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3780 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3783 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3784 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3785 have posted almost the same article twice.
3787 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3788 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3789 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3790 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3791 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3792 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3793 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3794 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3795 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3796 canceled/superseded.
3798 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3801 @node Marking Articles
3802 @section Marking Articles
3803 @cindex article marking
3804 @cindex article ticking
3807 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3809 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3810 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3811 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3813 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3816 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3817 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3818 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3822 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3826 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3827 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3831 @node Unread Articles
3832 @subsection Unread Articles
3834 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
3839 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3840 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
3842 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3843 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3844 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3845 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3846 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
3850 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3851 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
3853 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
3854 are followups to it.
3857 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3858 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
3860 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
3865 @subsection Read Articles
3866 @cindex expirable mark
3868 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3873 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3874 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
3875 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
3878 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3879 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3882 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3883 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
3884 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3887 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3888 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3891 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3892 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3895 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3896 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3899 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3900 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3903 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3904 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3907 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3908 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
3911 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3912 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
3916 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
3917 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
3918 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
3922 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3923 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
3925 One more special mark, though:
3929 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3930 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3932 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
3933 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
3934 control the expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
3935 articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
3941 @subsection Other Marks
3942 @cindex process mark
3945 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3951 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3952 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3953 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3954 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3955 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
3958 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3959 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3960 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3961 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3964 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3965 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3966 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3969 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3970 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3971 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3972 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3975 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3976 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3977 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3978 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3979 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3982 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3983 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3984 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3985 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3986 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3987 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3991 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3992 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3993 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3995 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3996 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3997 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4001 @subsection Setting Marks
4002 @cindex setting marks
4004 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4010 @kindex M t (Summary)
4011 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4012 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4017 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4018 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4019 Mark the current article as dormant
4020 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
4024 @kindex M d (Summary)
4026 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4027 Mark the current article as read
4028 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4032 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4033 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4034 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4039 @kindex M k (Summary)
4040 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4041 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4042 and then select the next unread article
4043 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4047 @kindex M K (Summary)
4048 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4049 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4050 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4051 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4054 @kindex M C (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4056 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4059 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4060 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4061 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4062 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4065 @kindex M H (Summary)
4066 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4067 Catchup the current group to point
4068 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4071 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4072 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4073 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4074 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4077 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4078 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4079 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4080 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4084 @kindex M c (Summary)
4085 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4086 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4087 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4088 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
4092 @kindex M e (Summary)
4094 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4095 Mark the current article as expirable
4096 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4099 @kindex M b (Summary)
4100 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4101 Set a bookmark in the current article
4102 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4105 @kindex M B (Summary)
4106 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4107 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4108 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4111 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4112 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4113 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4114 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4117 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4118 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4119 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4120 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4123 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4124 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4125 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4126 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4127 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4130 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4131 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4132 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4133 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4134 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4135 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4136 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4137 The default is @code{t}.
4140 @node Setting Process Marks
4141 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4142 @cindex setting process marks
4149 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4150 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4151 Mark the current article with the process mark
4152 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4153 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4157 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4158 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4159 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4160 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4163 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4164 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4165 Remove the process mark from all articles
4166 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4169 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4170 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4171 Invert the list of process marked articles
4172 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4175 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4176 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4177 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4180 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4181 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4182 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4185 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4186 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4187 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4188 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4191 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4192 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4193 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4194 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4197 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4198 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4199 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4200 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4203 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4204 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4205 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4208 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4209 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4210 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4211 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4214 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4215 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4216 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4219 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4220 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4221 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4222 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4225 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4226 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4227 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4228 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4231 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4232 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4233 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4234 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4237 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4238 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4239 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4240 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4249 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4250 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4251 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4258 @kindex / / (Summary)
4259 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4260 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4261 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4264 @kindex / a (Summary)
4265 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4266 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4267 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4271 @kindex / u (Summary)
4273 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4274 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
4275 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4276 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4277 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4280 @kindex / m (Summary)
4281 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4282 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4283 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4286 @kindex / t (Summary)
4287 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4288 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles that are
4289 older than (or equal to) that number of days
4290 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4291 articles that are younger than that number of days.
4294 @kindex / n (Summary)
4295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4296 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4297 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4298 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4301 @kindex / w (Summary)
4302 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4303 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4304 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4308 @kindex / v (Summary)
4309 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4310 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4311 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4315 @kindex M S (Summary)
4316 @kindex / E (Summary)
4317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4318 Display all expunged articles
4319 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4322 @kindex / D (Summary)
4323 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4324 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4327 @kindex / d (Summary)
4328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4329 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4332 @kindex / c (Summary)
4333 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4334 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4335 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4338 @kindex / C (Summary)
4339 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4340 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4341 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4342 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4350 @cindex article threading
4352 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4353 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4354 hierarchical fashion.
4357 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4358 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4362 @node Customizing Threading
4363 @subsection Customizing Threading
4364 @cindex customizing threading
4370 @item gnus-show-threads
4371 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4372 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4373 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4374 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4375 slower and more awkward.
4377 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4378 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4379 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4380 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
4381 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4382 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4383 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4384 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4385 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4386 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4387 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4388 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4390 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4391 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4392 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4393 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4394 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4395 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
4396 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4397 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4398 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4399 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4400 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4401 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4402 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4403 @code{nil} by default.
4405 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4406 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4407 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4408 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4409 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4410 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4411 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
4412 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4413 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4414 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4415 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4417 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4418 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4419 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4422 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4423 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4424 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4425 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4426 simplification is used.
4428 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4429 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4430 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4431 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4433 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4435 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4441 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4442 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4443 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4444 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4449 (mapconcat 'identity
4450 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4452 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4455 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4458 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4459 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4460 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4461 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4462 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4463 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4464 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
4465 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4467 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4468 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4469 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4470 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4471 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4472 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4473 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
4474 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
4475 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4479 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4480 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4481 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4482 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4484 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4485 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4486 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4489 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4493 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4494 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4497 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4498 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4499 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4500 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4501 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4502 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4504 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4505 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4506 There are four possible values:
4508 @cindex adopting articles
4513 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4514 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4515 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4516 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4519 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4520 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4521 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4522 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4523 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4524 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4525 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4528 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4529 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4530 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4534 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4535 display them after one another.
4538 Don't gather loose threads.
4541 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4542 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4543 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4546 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4547 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4548 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4549 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4550 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4551 threads are expunged.
4553 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4554 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4555 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4558 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4559 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4560 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4561 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4562 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4565 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4566 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4567 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4570 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4571 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4572 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4573 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4574 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4575 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4580 @node Thread Commands
4581 @subsection Thread Commands
4582 @cindex thread commands
4588 @kindex T k (Summary)
4589 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4590 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4591 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4592 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4593 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4598 @kindex T l (Summary)
4599 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4600 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4601 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4602 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4605 @kindex T i (Summary)
4606 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4607 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4608 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4611 @kindex T # (Summary)
4612 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4613 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4614 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4617 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4618 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4619 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4620 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4623 @kindex T T (Summary)
4624 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4625 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4628 @kindex T s (Summary)
4629 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4630 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4631 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4634 @kindex T h (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4636 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4639 @kindex T S (Summary)
4640 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4641 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4644 @kindex T H (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4646 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4649 @kindex T t (Summary)
4650 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4651 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4652 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4653 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4656 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4657 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4658 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4659 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4663 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4664 understand the numeric prefix.
4669 @kindex T n (Summary)
4670 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4671 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4674 @kindex T p (Summary)
4675 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4676 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4679 @kindex T d (Summary)
4680 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4681 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4684 @kindex T u (Summary)
4685 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4686 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4689 @kindex T o (Summary)
4690 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4691 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4694 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4695 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4696 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4697 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4698 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4699 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4700 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4701 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4702 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4703 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4704 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4705 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
4712 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4713 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4714 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4715 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4716 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4717 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4718 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4719 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4720 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4721 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4722 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4723 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4724 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4725 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4727 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4728 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4729 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4730 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4731 in the list. You should probably always include
4732 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4733 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4734 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4735 ascending article order.
4737 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4738 number, you could do something like:
4741 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4742 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4743 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4744 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
4747 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4748 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4749 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4750 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4751 which the articles arrived.
4753 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4757 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4759 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4760 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4763 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4764 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4765 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4766 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4769 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4770 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4771 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4772 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4773 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4774 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4775 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4776 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4777 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4778 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4779 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4780 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4781 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4783 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4787 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4788 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4789 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4794 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4795 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4796 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4797 @cindex article pre-fetch
4800 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4801 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4802 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4803 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4804 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4806 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4807 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4809 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4810 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4811 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4812 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4813 connection is blocked.
4815 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4816 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4817 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4818 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4820 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4821 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4822 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4823 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4826 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4829 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4830 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4831 happen automatically.
4833 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
4834 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4835 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
4836 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
4837 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
4838 pre-fetch all the articles that it can without bound. If it is
4839 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be made.
4841 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
4842 @findex gnus-async-read-p
4843 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
4844 articles, for instance. Which articles to pre-fetch is controlled by
4845 the @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable. This function should
4846 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
4847 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
4848 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
4849 data structure as the only parameter.
4851 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles that are
4852 shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
4855 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
4856 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
4857 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
4858 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
4861 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
4864 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
4865 preferrably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
4866 It's also probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
4868 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
4869 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
4870 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
4871 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
4875 Remove articles when they are read.
4878 Remove articles when exiting the group.
4881 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
4883 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
4884 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
4885 from the next group.
4888 @node Article Caching
4889 @section Article Caching
4890 @cindex article caching
4893 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4894 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4895 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4896 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4897 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4899 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4901 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4902 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4903 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4904 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4905 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4906 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4907 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4908 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4910 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4911 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4912 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4913 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4914 as dormant, and don't worry.
4916 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4918 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4919 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4920 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4921 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4922 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4923 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4924 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4925 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4926 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4927 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4929 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4930 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4931 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4932 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4933 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4934 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4935 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4937 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4938 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4939 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4940 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4941 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4942 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4943 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4946 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4947 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4948 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4949 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4950 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4951 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4952 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4953 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4954 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4958 @node Persistent Articles
4959 @section Persistent Articles
4960 @cindex persistent articles
4962 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4963 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4964 useful in my opinion.
4966 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4967 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4968 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4969 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4970 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4971 the expiry going on at the news server.
4973 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4974 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4975 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4981 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4982 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4985 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4986 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4987 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4988 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4992 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4994 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4995 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4996 interested in persistent articles:
4999 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5003 @node Article Backlog
5004 @section Article Backlog
5006 @cindex article backlog
5008 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5009 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5010 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5011 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5012 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5013 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5014 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5015 increase memory usage some.
5017 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5018 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5019 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5020 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5021 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5022 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5023 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5025 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5028 @node Saving Articles
5029 @section Saving Articles
5030 @cindex saving articles
5032 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5033 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5034 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5035 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5036 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5038 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5039 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5040 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5042 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5043 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5044 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5045 deleted before saving.
5051 @kindex O o (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5054 Save the current article using the default article saver
5055 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5058 @kindex O m (Summary)
5059 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5060 Save the current article in mail format
5061 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5064 @kindex O r (Summary)
5065 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5066 Save the current article in rmail format
5067 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5070 @kindex O f (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5072 Save the current article in plain file format
5073 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5076 @kindex O F (Summary)
5077 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5078 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5079 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5082 @kindex O b (Summary)
5083 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5084 Save the current article body in plain file format
5085 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5088 @kindex O h (Summary)
5089 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5090 Save the current article in mh folder format
5091 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5094 @kindex O v (Summary)
5095 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5096 Save the current article in a VM folder
5097 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5100 @kindex O p (Summary)
5101 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5102 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5103 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5106 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5107 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5108 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5109 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5110 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5111 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5112 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5113 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5114 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5115 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5116 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5117 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5121 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5122 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5123 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5124 functions below, or you can create your own.
5128 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5129 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5130 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5131 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5132 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5133 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5134 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5136 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5137 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5138 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5139 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5140 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5141 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5143 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5144 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5145 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5146 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5147 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5148 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5149 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5151 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5152 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5153 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5154 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5155 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5157 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5158 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5159 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5160 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5161 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5164 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5165 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5166 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5167 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5168 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
5169 the latter does not.
5171 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5172 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5173 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5174 reader to use this setting.
5177 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5178 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5179 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5180 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5183 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5184 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5185 available functions that generate names:
5189 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5190 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5191 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5193 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5194 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5195 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5197 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5198 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5199 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5201 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5202 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5203 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5206 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5207 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5208 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5209 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5210 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5214 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5215 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5216 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5217 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5220 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5221 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5222 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5223 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5224 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5225 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5226 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5227 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5228 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5230 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5231 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5232 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5233 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5235 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5236 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5237 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5240 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5241 lots of mail groups that are called things like
5242 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5243 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5244 following will do just that:
5247 (defun my-save-name (group)
5248 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5249 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5251 (setq gnus-split-methods
5252 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5257 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5258 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5259 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5260 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5261 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5262 all the files in the toplevel directory
5263 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5264 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5265 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5266 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5268 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5269 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5270 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5271 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5272 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5275 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5279 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5280 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5283 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5284 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5285 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5286 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5289 @node Decoding Articles
5290 @section Decoding Articles
5291 @cindex decoding articles
5293 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5294 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5297 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5298 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
5299 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5300 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5301 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5304 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5305 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5306 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5307 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5308 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5310 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5311 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5312 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5314 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5315 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5316 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5318 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5319 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5320 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5323 @node Uuencoded Articles
5324 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5326 @cindex uuencoded articles
5331 @kindex X u (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5333 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5336 @kindex X U (Summary)
5337 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5338 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5339 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5342 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5344 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5347 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5349 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5350 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5353 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5354 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5355 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5356 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5357 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5359 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5360 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5361 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5362 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5365 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5366 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5367 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5368 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5369 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5370 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5374 @node Shared Articles
5375 @subsection Shared Articles
5377 @cindex shared articles
5382 @kindex X s (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5384 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5387 @kindex X S (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5389 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5392 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5393 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5394 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5397 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5398 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5399 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5400 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5404 @node PostScript Files
5405 @subsection PostScript Files
5411 @kindex X p (Summary)
5412 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5413 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5416 @kindex X P (Summary)
5417 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5418 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5419 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5422 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5423 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5424 View the current PostScript series
5425 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5428 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5429 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5430 View and save the current PostScript series
5431 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5435 @node Decoding Variables
5436 @subsection Decoding Variables
5438 Adjective, not verb.
5441 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5442 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5443 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5447 @node Rule Variables
5448 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5449 @cindex rule variables
5451 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5452 variables are on the form
5455 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5462 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5463 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5465 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5466 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5469 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5470 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5473 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5474 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5475 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5476 user and default view rules.
5478 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5479 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5480 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5485 @node Other Decode Variables
5486 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5489 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5491 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5492 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
5493 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5494 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5495 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5499 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5500 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5503 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5504 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5505 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5508 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5509 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5510 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5511 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5512 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5515 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5516 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5517 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5519 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5520 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5521 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5522 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5523 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5526 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5527 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5528 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5530 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5531 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5532 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5533 looking for files to display.
5535 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5536 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5537 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5540 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5541 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5542 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5545 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5546 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5547 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5550 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5551 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5552 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5555 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5556 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5557 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
5558 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
5560 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5561 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5562 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5563 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5565 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5566 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5568 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5569 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5570 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5571 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5573 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5574 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5575 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5576 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5577 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5578 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5579 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5580 simply dropped them.
5585 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5586 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5590 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5591 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5592 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5593 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5594 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5595 for you when you post the article.
5597 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5598 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5599 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5600 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5602 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5603 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5604 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5605 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
5606 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5607 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5608 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5610 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5611 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5612 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5613 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5614 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5615 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5616 Default is @code{t}.
5622 @subsection Viewing Files
5623 @cindex viewing files
5624 @cindex pseudo-articles
5626 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5627 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5628 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5629 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5630 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5631 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5632 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5634 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5635 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5636 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5637 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5639 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5640 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5641 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5643 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5644 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5645 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5646 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5647 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5649 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5650 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5651 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5652 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5653 a list of parameters to that command.
5655 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5656 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5657 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5659 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5660 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5661 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5664 @node Article Treatment
5665 @section Article Treatment
5667 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5668 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
5669 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5670 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5671 these articles easier.
5674 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5675 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look niced.
5676 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5677 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5678 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5679 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5680 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5684 @node Article Highlighting
5685 @subsection Article Highlighting
5688 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5689 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5694 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5695 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5696 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5699 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5700 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5701 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5702 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5703 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5704 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5705 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5706 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5707 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5708 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5709 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5712 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5713 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5714 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5716 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5719 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5721 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5722 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5723 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5725 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5726 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5727 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5729 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5730 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5731 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5733 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5734 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5735 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5736 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5737 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5740 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5741 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5742 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5744 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5745 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5746 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5748 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5749 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5750 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5751 that it's a citation.
5753 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5754 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5755 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5757 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5758 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5759 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5761 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5762 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5763 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5764 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5770 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5771 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5772 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5773 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5774 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5775 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5776 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5777 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5783 @node Article Fontisizing
5784 @subsection Article Fontisizing
5786 @cindex article emphasis
5788 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
5789 @kindex W e (Summary)
5790 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
5791 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
5792 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
5793 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
5795 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
5796 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
5797 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
5798 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
5799 that says what regular expression grouping used to find the entire
5800 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
5801 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
5802 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
5806 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
5807 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
5808 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
5811 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
5812 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
5813 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
5814 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
5815 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
5816 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
5817 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
5818 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
5819 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
5820 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
5821 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
5822 @code{gnus-emphasis-undeline-bold}, and
5823 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
5825 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
5826 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
5827 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
5831 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
5835 @node Article Hiding
5836 @subsection Article Hiding
5837 @cindex article hiding
5839 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5840 too much cruft in most articles.
5845 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-article-hide
5847 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5850 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5852 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5856 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5857 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5858 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5859 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5862 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5864 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5868 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5869 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5870 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
5871 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
5872 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
5873 signature has been hidden.
5876 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5877 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5878 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) gruft
5879 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5882 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5883 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5884 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5885 customizing the hiding:
5889 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5890 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5891 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5892 50), hide the cited text.
5894 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5895 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5896 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5899 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5900 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5901 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5902 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5903 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
5908 Start point of the hidden text.
5910 End point of the hidden text.
5912 Length of the hidden text.
5915 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5916 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5917 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5922 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5923 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5924 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5925 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5926 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5927 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5931 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5932 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5933 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5935 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5936 citation customization.
5939 @node Article Washing
5940 @subsection Article Washing
5942 @cindex article washing
5944 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5945 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5947 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5948 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5954 @kindex W l (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5956 Remove page breaks from the current article
5957 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5960 @kindex W r (Summary)
5961 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5962 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5963 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5966 @kindex W t (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5968 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5972 @kindex W v (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5974 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5975 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5978 @kindex W m (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5980 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5984 @kindex W o (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5986 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5989 @kindex W w (Summary)
5990 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5991 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5992 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5993 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5995 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
5999 @kindex W c (Summary)
6000 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6001 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6004 @kindex W q (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6006 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6009 @kindex W f (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6012 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6013 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6014 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6015 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6016 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6017 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6018 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6019 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6020 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6021 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6022 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6023 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6024 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6025 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6026 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6027 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6028 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6032 @kindex W b (Summary)
6033 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6034 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6037 @kindex W B (Summary)
6038 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6039 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6040 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6043 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6044 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6045 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6046 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6049 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6050 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6051 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6052 lines with a single empty line.
6053 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6056 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6057 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6058 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6059 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6062 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6064 Do all the three commands above
6065 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6068 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6069 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6070 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6071 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6076 @node Article Buttons
6077 @subsection Article Buttons
6080 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6081 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6082 with the minimum of fuzz.
6084 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6085 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6086 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6091 @item gnus-button-alist
6092 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6093 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6096 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6102 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6103 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
6104 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6107 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
6108 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
6109 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6112 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6113 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6114 avoid false matches.
6117 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6120 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6121 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6125 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6128 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6131 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6132 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6133 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6134 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6135 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6138 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6141 @var{header} is a regular expression.
6143 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6144 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6145 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6146 default values of the variables above.
6148 @item gnus-article-button-face
6149 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6150 Face used on buttons.
6152 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6153 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6154 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6160 @subsection Article Date
6162 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6163 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6164 when the article was sent.
6169 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6171 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6172 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6175 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6176 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6177 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6180 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6181 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6182 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6183 @findex format-time-string
6184 Display the date using a user-defined format
6185 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6186 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6187 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6188 for a list possible format specs.
6191 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6193 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
6194 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
6197 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6199 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6200 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
6201 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6202 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6203 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6208 @node Article Signature
6209 @subsection Article Signature
6211 @cindex article signature
6213 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6214 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6215 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6216 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6217 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6218 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6219 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6220 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6221 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6224 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6225 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6226 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6227 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6228 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6229 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6230 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6231 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6234 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6237 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6238 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6243 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6246 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6249 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6250 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6252 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6253 in question is not a signature.
6256 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6260 @node Article Commands
6261 @section Article Commands
6268 @kindex A P (Summary)
6269 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6270 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6271 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6272 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6273 run just before printing the buffer.
6278 @node Summary Sorting
6279 @section Summary Sorting
6280 @cindex summary sorting
6282 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6283 can't really see why you'd want that.
6288 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6289 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6290 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6293 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6294 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6295 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6298 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6300 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6303 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6304 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6305 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6308 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6309 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6310 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6313 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6315 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6318 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6319 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6320 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6321 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6322 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6326 @node Finding the Parent
6327 @section Finding the Parent
6328 @cindex parent articles
6329 @cindex referring articles
6331 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6333 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6334 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6335 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6336 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6337 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6338 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6339 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6340 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6342 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6343 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6344 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6345 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6346 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6349 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6350 @kindex A R (Summary)
6351 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
6352 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
6353 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6355 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6356 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6358 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6359 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6360 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6361 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6362 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6363 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6364 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6366 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6367 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6368 by giving this command a prefix.
6370 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6371 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6372 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6373 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6374 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
6375 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
6376 not really necessary.
6378 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6379 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6380 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6381 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6382 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6383 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6386 @node Alternative Approaches
6387 @section Alternative Approaches
6389 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6390 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6393 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6394 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6399 @subsection Pick and Read
6400 @cindex pick and read
6402 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6403 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks the articles she
6404 wants to read from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the
6405 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6407 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6408 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6409 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6410 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6411 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6412 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
6415 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6420 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6421 Pick the article on the current line
6422 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6423 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
6424 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6427 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6428 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6429 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6430 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6434 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6435 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6439 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6440 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6444 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6445 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6449 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6450 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6454 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6455 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6459 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6460 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6464 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6465 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6469 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6470 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6474 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6475 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6479 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6480 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6484 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6485 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6486 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6487 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6488 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6489 will still be visible when you are reading.
6493 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6496 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6499 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6500 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6502 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6503 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6504 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6506 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6507 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
6508 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6509 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6510 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6511 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6512 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6516 @subsection Binary Groups
6517 @cindex binary groups
6519 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6520 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6521 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6522 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6523 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6524 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6525 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6528 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6529 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
6530 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6532 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6533 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6537 @section Tree Display
6540 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6541 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6542 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6543 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6546 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6549 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6550 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6551 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6553 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6554 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6555 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6556 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
6559 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6560 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6561 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6562 default is @code{modeline}.
6564 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6565 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6566 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6567 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6568 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6569 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6570 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
6576 The name of the poster.
6578 The @code{From} header.
6580 The number of the article.
6582 The opening bracket.
6584 The closing bracket.
6589 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6591 Variables related to the display are:
6594 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6595 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6596 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6597 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6598 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6599 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6601 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6602 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6603 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6604 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6608 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6609 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6610 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6611 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6612 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6613 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
6614 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
6615 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
6616 other windows that are displayed next to it.
6618 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6619 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6620 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6621 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6622 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6623 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6624 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6628 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6631 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6641 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6645 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6646 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6648 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6650 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6656 @node Mail Group Commands
6657 @section Mail Group Commands
6658 @cindex mail group commands
6660 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6661 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6663 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6664 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6669 @kindex B e (Summary)
6670 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6671 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6672 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6675 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6676 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6677 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
6678 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6679 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
6680 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6683 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6684 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6685 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6686 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6687 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6690 @kindex B m (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6693 Move the article from one mail group to another
6694 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6697 @kindex B c (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6700 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6701 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6704 @kindex B C (Summary)
6705 @cindex crosspost mail
6706 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6707 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6708 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6709 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
6710 be properly updated.
6713 @kindex B i (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
6715 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
6716 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
6717 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
6720 @kindex B r (Summary)
6721 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
6722 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6723 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
6724 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
6725 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
6729 @kindex B w (Summary)
6731 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
6732 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
6733 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
6734 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
6735 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
6738 @kindex B q (Summary)
6739 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
6740 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
6741 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
6742 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
6745 @kindex B p (Summary)
6746 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
6747 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
6748 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
6749 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
6750 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
6751 article from your news server (or rather, from
6752 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
6753 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
6754 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
6755 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
6756 just not have arrived yet.
6760 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
6761 @cindex moving articles
6762 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
6763 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
6764 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
6765 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
6766 suggestions you find reasonable.
6769 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
6770 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
6771 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
6772 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
6776 @node Various Summary Stuff
6777 @section Various Summary Stuff
6780 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
6781 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
6782 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
6783 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
6787 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
6788 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
6789 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
6791 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
6792 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
6793 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
6794 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
6795 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
6796 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
6799 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6800 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6801 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
6802 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
6803 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
6805 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
6806 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
6807 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
6808 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
6809 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
6810 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
6811 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
6812 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
6813 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
6814 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
6819 @node Summary Group Information
6820 @subsection Summary Group Information
6825 @kindex H f (Summary)
6826 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
6827 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
6828 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
6829 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
6830 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
6831 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
6832 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
6833 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
6837 @kindex H d (Summary)
6838 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
6839 Give a brief description of the current group
6840 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
6841 rereading the description from the server.
6844 @kindex H h (Summary)
6845 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
6846 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
6847 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
6850 @kindex H i (Summary)
6851 @findex gnus-info-find-node
6852 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
6856 @node Searching for Articles
6857 @subsection Searching for Articles
6862 @kindex M-s (Summary)
6863 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
6864 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
6865 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6868 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6869 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6870 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6871 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6875 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6876 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6877 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6878 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6881 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6883 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6884 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6887 @node Summary Generation Commands
6888 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
6893 @kindex Y g (Summary)
6894 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
6895 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
6898 @kindex Y c (Summary)
6899 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
6900 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
6901 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
6906 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6907 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6912 @kindex C-d (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6914 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6915 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6916 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6917 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6918 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6919 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6920 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
6924 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
6925 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
6926 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
6927 several documents into one biiig group
6928 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
6929 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
6930 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
6931 command understands the process/prefix convention
6932 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6935 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6936 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6937 Toggle truncation of summary lines
6938 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
6939 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
6940 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
6944 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6945 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6946 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6951 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6952 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6953 @cindex summary exit
6954 @cindex exiting groups
6956 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6957 group and return you to the group buffer.
6963 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6965 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6966 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6967 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6968 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6969 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6970 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6971 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6972 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6973 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
6974 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
6978 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6980 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6981 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6982 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6986 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6988 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6989 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6990 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6993 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6994 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6995 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6996 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6999 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7000 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7001 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7002 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7005 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7006 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7007 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7008 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7009 all articles, both read and unread.
7013 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7014 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7015 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7016 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7017 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7018 articles, both read and unread.
7021 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7022 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7023 Exit the group and go to the next group
7024 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7027 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7028 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7029 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7030 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7033 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7034 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7035 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7036 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7037 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7038 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7041 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7042 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7045 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7046 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7047 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7048 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7049 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7050 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7051 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7052 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7053 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7054 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7055 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7056 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7058 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7060 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7061 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7062 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7063 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7064 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7065 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7066 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7067 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7068 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7071 @node Crosspost Handling
7072 @section Crosspost Handling
7076 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7077 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7078 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7079 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7080 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7081 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7084 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7085 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7086 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7087 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7088 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7090 @cindex cross-posting
7093 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7094 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7095 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7096 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7097 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7098 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7099 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7100 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7101 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7102 the cross reference mechanism.
7104 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7105 @cindex overview.fmt
7106 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7107 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7108 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7109 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7110 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7111 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7114 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7115 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7116 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7121 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7124 @node Duplicate Suppression
7125 @section Duplicate Suppression
7127 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7128 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7129 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7130 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
7135 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7136 is evil and not very common.
7139 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7140 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7143 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7144 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7147 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7150 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
7151 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7153 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7154 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7155 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7156 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7157 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7158 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7159 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7162 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7163 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7164 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7165 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7166 article as read the the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7170 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7171 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7172 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7174 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7175 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7176 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7177 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7178 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
7179 single Gnus session are suppressed.
7181 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7182 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7183 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7184 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7186 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7187 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7188 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
7189 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7192 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7193 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7194 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7195 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7196 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7197 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7198 to you to figure out, I think.
7201 @node The Article Buffer
7202 @chapter The Article Buffer
7203 @cindex article buffer
7205 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7206 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7207 tell Gnus otherwise.
7210 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7211 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7212 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7213 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7214 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7218 @node Hiding Headers
7219 @section Hiding Headers
7220 @cindex hiding headers
7221 @cindex deleting headers
7223 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7224 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7226 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7227 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7228 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7229 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7230 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7231 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7232 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7233 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7234 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7236 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7240 @item gnus-visible-headers
7241 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7242 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7243 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7244 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7246 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7247 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7250 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7253 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7256 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7257 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7258 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7259 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7260 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7261 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7263 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7264 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7267 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7270 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7273 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7274 variable will have no effect.
7278 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7279 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7280 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7281 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7282 the headers are to be displayed.
7284 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7285 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7288 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7291 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7292 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
7293 are listed in this variable.
7295 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7296 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7297 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7298 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7299 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7300 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7301 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7302 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7303 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7305 These conditions are:
7308 Remove all empty headers.
7310 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7313 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7314 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7316 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7319 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7323 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7326 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7327 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7330 This is also the default value for this variable.
7334 @section Using @sc{mime}
7337 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7338 while people stand around yawning.
7340 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7341 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7343 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7344 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7345 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7347 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7348 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7349 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7350 @findex metamail-buffer
7351 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7352 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7353 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7354 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7355 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7356 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7357 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7358 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7360 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7361 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7362 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7363 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7364 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7365 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7366 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7367 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7368 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7370 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7373 @node Customizing Articles
7374 @section Customizing Articles
7375 @cindex article customization
7377 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7378 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7379 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7380 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7382 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7383 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7384 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7385 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7386 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7387 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7388 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7389 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7390 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7392 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7393 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7394 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7395 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7396 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7399 @node Article Keymap
7400 @section Article Keymap
7402 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7403 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7404 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7405 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7408 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7413 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7414 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7415 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7418 @kindex DEL (Article)
7419 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7420 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7423 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7424 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7425 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7426 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7427 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7430 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7431 @findex gnus-article-mail
7432 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7433 given a prefix, include the mail.
7437 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7438 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7439 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7443 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7444 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7445 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7448 @kindex TAB (Article)
7449 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7450 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
7451 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7454 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7455 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7456 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
7462 @section Misc Article
7466 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7467 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7468 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7469 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7472 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7473 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7474 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7475 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7476 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7477 the contents of the article buffer.
7479 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7480 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7481 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7482 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7483 hiding headers, and the like.
7485 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7486 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7487 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7489 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7490 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7491 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7492 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7494 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7495 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7496 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7497 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7498 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7502 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7503 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7507 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7509 @item gnus-break-pages
7510 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7511 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7512 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7513 paging will not be done.
7515 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7516 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7517 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7522 @node Composing Messages
7523 @chapter Composing Messages
7528 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7529 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7530 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7531 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
7532 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
7533 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
7534 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7537 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7538 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7539 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7540 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7541 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7542 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
7543 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7544 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7547 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7548 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7554 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7557 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7558 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7559 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7560 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7562 @item gnus-add-to-list
7563 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
7564 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
7565 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
7573 Variables for composing news articles:
7576 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7577 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7578 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7579 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7580 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7581 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
7582 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7583 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7584 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7587 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7588 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7589 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7590 file. It is 1000 by default.
7595 @node Posting Server
7596 @section Posting Server
7598 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7599 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7601 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7603 @vindex gnus-post-method
7605 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7606 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7607 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7608 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7609 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7612 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7615 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7616 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7617 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7618 the ``current'' server for posting.
7620 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7621 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7623 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7624 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7629 @section Mail and Post
7631 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
7635 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7636 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7637 @cindex mailing lists
7639 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
7640 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7641 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7642 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7643 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7644 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
7645 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7646 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7647 still a pain, though.
7651 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7652 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7653 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7656 @findex ispell-message
7658 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7662 @node Archived Messages
7663 @section Archived Messages
7664 @cindex archived messages
7665 @cindex sent messages
7667 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
7668 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
7669 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
7670 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
7673 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7674 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7675 use to store sent messages. The default is:
7679 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))
7682 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
7683 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
7684 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
7685 directory chosen, you could say something like:
7688 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7689 '(nnfolder "archive"
7690 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7691 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7692 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7695 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7697 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7698 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7699 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7701 This variable can be:
7705 Messages will be saved in that group.
7706 @item a list of strings
7707 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7708 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7709 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7711 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
7716 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7718 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7721 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7723 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7726 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7728 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7729 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7730 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7731 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7736 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7737 '((if (message-news-p)
7742 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7743 messages in one file per month:
7746 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7747 '((if (message-news-p)
7749 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7750 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7753 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7754 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7755 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7756 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7757 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7758 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7759 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7760 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
7761 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7762 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7764 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus also a
7765 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
7766 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
7767 this will disable archiving.
7769 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
7770 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
7773 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7774 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7775 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7776 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7777 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7780 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7781 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7782 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7785 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
7786 but the latter is the preferred method.
7790 @c @node Posting Styles
7791 @c @section Posting Styles
7792 @c @cindex posting styles
7795 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
7797 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7798 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7799 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7802 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7803 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7804 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7805 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7806 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7811 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7812 @c (organization . "What me?"))
7814 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7815 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7816 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7819 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7820 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7821 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7822 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7823 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7824 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7825 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7826 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7828 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7829 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7830 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7831 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7832 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7833 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7836 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7837 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7838 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7839 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7840 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7843 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7844 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7845 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7847 @c So here's a new example:
7850 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
7852 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
7853 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7854 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7855 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7857 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7858 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7859 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7860 @c (posting-from-work-p
7861 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7862 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7863 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7865 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7872 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7873 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7874 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7875 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7876 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7878 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7879 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7880 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7881 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7882 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7886 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7887 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7888 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7889 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7890 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7891 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7892 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7893 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7895 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7898 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7899 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7900 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7901 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7902 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7903 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7904 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7905 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7906 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7907 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7908 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7909 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7910 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7911 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7913 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
7914 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7915 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7917 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7918 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
7919 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7920 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7921 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7923 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7926 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7927 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7928 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7929 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7930 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7933 @c @node Rejected Articles
7934 @c @section Rejected Articles
7935 @c @cindex rejected articles
7937 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7938 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7939 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7940 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7942 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7943 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7944 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7945 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7946 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7948 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7949 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7950 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7953 @node Select Methods
7954 @chapter Select Methods
7955 @cindex foreign groups
7956 @cindex select methods
7958 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7959 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7960 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7961 personal mail group.
7963 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7964 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7965 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
7966 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7967 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7968 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7970 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7971 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7973 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7976 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7977 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7978 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
7979 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
7980 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7982 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7985 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7986 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7987 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7988 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7989 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7993 @node The Server Buffer
7994 @section The Server Buffer
7996 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7997 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7998 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7999 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8000 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8001 backend represents a virtual server.
8003 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8004 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8005 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8006 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8008 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
8009 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8010 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8011 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8012 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8013 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8014 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8016 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
8017 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8020 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8021 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8022 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8023 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8024 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8025 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8026 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8029 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8030 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8033 @node Server Buffer Format
8034 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8035 @cindex server buffer format
8037 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8038 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8039 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8040 variable, with some simple extensions:
8045 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8048 The name of this server.
8051 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8054 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8057 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8058 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8059 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
8070 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8073 @node Server Commands
8074 @subsection Server Commands
8075 @cindex server commands
8081 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8082 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8086 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8087 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8090 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8091 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8092 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8096 @findex gnus-server-exit
8097 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8101 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8102 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8106 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8107 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8111 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8112 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8116 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8117 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8121 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8122 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8123 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8128 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8129 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8130 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8131 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8136 @node Example Methods
8137 @subsection Example Methods
8139 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8142 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8145 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8151 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8152 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8155 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
8156 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8158 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8159 port 15 from that machine. This is what the select method should
8163 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8166 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8167 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
8169 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8170 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8171 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8175 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8178 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8181 Here's the method for a public spool:
8185 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8186 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8189 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8190 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8191 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8192 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8193 should probably look something like this:
8197 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8198 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8199 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8200 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8201 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8206 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8207 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8209 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8210 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8212 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8213 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8214 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8216 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8218 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8219 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8220 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8221 will contain the following:
8231 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8232 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8233 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8236 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8237 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8238 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8241 @node Server Variables
8242 @subsection Server Variables
8244 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8245 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8246 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8247 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8248 won't change the "derived" variables.
8250 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8251 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8252 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8253 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8254 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8255 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8256 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8257 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8258 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8262 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8263 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8264 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8268 @node Servers and Methods
8269 @subsection Servers and Methods
8271 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8272 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8273 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8274 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8278 @node Unavailable Servers
8279 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8281 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8282 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8283 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8284 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8285 actually the case or not.
8287 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8288 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
8289 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8290 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8291 to find out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to
8292 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8293 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8294 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8296 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8297 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8299 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8300 with the following commands:
8306 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8307 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8308 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8312 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8313 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8314 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8318 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8319 Mark the current server as unreachable
8320 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8323 @kindex M-o (Server)
8324 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8325 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8326 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8329 @kindex M-c (Server)
8330 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8331 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8332 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8336 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8337 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
8338 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8344 @section Getting News
8345 @cindex reading news
8346 @cindex news backends
8348 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8349 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8350 or it can read from a local spool.
8353 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8354 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8359 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8362 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8363 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8364 server as the, uhm, address.
8366 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8367 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8368 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8369 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8371 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8372 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8373 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8375 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8380 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8381 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8382 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8384 @cindex authentification
8385 @cindex nntp authentification
8386 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8387 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8388 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
8389 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
8390 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
8391 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function.
8393 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8394 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8395 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8396 server. Available functions include:
8399 @item nntp-send-authinfo
8400 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8401 This function will used you current login name as the user name and will
8402 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
8404 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8405 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8406 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
8408 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8409 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8410 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
8411 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
8414 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8415 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8416 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8417 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8418 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8421 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8425 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8427 The default value is
8430 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8431 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8434 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8435 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8437 @item nntp-maximum-request
8438 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8439 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8440 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8441 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8442 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8443 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8444 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8446 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8447 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8448 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8449 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8450 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8451 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8452 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8453 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8454 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8455 no timeouts are done.
8457 @item nntp-command-timeout
8458 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8459 @cindex PPP connections
8460 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8461 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8462 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8463 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8464 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8465 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8466 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
8467 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8468 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8469 likely number is 30 seconds.
8471 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8472 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8473 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8474 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8477 @item nntp-server-hook
8478 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8479 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8482 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8483 @findex nntp-open-telnet
8484 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8485 @item nntp-open-connection-function
8486 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
8487 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Three pre-made
8488 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8489 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8490 two are @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an @samp{rlogin} on the
8491 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
8492 available there, and @code{nntp-open-telnet}, which does a @samp{telnet}
8493 to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet} to get to the
8496 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
8500 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8501 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8502 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8504 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8505 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8506 User name on the remote system.
8510 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
8513 @item nntp-telnet-command
8514 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
8515 Command used to start @samp{telnet}.
8517 @item nntp-telnet-switches
8518 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
8519 List of strings to be used as the switches to the telnet command.
8521 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
8522 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
8523 User name to log in on the remote system as.
8525 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
8526 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
8527 Password to use when logging in.
8529 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
8530 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
8531 A list of strings that will be executed as a command after logging in
8536 @item nntp-end-of-line
8537 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8538 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8539 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8540 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8542 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8543 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8544 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8548 @vindex nntp-address
8549 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8551 @item nntp-port-number
8552 @vindex nntp-port-number
8553 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8556 @item nntp-buggy-select
8557 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8558 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8560 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8561 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8562 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8563 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
8564 can be used automatically.
8566 @item nntp-xover-commands
8567 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8570 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8571 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8575 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8576 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8577 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8578 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8579 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8580 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
8581 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8582 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8583 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8584 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8585 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
8587 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8588 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8589 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8591 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8592 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8593 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8594 server closes connection.
8600 @subsection News Spool
8604 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8605 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
8606 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
8609 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8610 anything else) as the address.
8612 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8613 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8614 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8615 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8619 @item nnspool-inews-program
8620 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8621 Program used to post an article.
8623 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8624 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8625 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8627 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8628 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8629 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8630 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8632 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8633 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8634 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8635 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8637 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8638 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8639 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8641 @item nnspool-active-file
8642 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8643 The path of the active file.
8645 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8646 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8647 The path of the group descriptions file.
8649 @item nnspool-history-file
8650 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8651 The path of the news history file.
8653 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8654 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8655 The path of the active date file.
8657 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8658 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8659 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8662 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8663 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8665 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8666 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8667 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8673 @section Getting Mail
8674 @cindex reading mail
8677 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8681 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8682 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8683 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8684 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8685 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8686 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8687 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8688 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
8689 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8690 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8691 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8695 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8696 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8698 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
8699 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
8700 and things will happen automatically.
8702 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
8703 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
8706 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
8707 '((nnml "private")))
8710 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
8711 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
8712 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
8713 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
8714 like any other group.
8716 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
8719 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8720 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8721 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8725 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
8726 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
8727 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
8730 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
8731 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
8732 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8735 @node Splitting Mail
8736 @subsection Splitting Mail
8737 @cindex splitting mail
8738 @cindex mail splitting
8740 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8741 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8742 to be split into groups.
8745 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8746 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8747 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8751 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8752 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8753 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8754 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8755 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8757 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
8758 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
8761 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8762 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8763 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8764 mail belongs in that group.
8766 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8767 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
8768 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
8769 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
8770 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
8771 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
8773 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8774 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8775 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8776 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8777 thinks should carry this mail message.
8779 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8780 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8781 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8782 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8784 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8785 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8786 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8787 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8788 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8790 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8793 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8794 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8795 links. If that's the case for you, set
8796 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8797 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8799 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
8800 @kindex nnmail-split-history
8801 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
8802 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
8804 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8805 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8806 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8807 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8808 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8809 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8810 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8811 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8815 @node Mail Backend Variables
8816 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8818 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8822 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8823 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8824 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8825 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8827 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8828 @item nnmail-spool-file
8832 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
8833 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
8834 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8835 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8836 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8837 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8838 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8839 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8840 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8841 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8842 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8843 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
8844 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
8845 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
8846 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
8848 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
8850 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
8851 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
8854 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8855 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8856 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8857 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8858 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8859 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8861 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8862 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8863 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8864 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8865 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8866 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8867 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8870 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8871 @item nnmail-crash-box
8872 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8873 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8874 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8877 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8878 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8879 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8880 used for, well, anything, really.
8882 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
8883 @item nnmail-split-hook
8884 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
8885 @findex RFC1522 decoding
8886 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
8887 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
8888 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
8889 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
8890 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
8891 is one likely function to add to this hook.
8893 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8894 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8895 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8896 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8897 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8898 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8899 starting to handle the new mail) and
8900 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8901 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8902 default file modes the new mail files get:
8905 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8906 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8908 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8909 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8912 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8913 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8914 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8915 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8916 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8917 it will be used instead.
8919 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8920 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8921 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8922 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8924 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
8925 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
8928 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8929 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8930 @cindex incoming mail files
8931 @cindex deleting incoming files
8932 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8933 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
8936 @c This is @code{nil} by
8937 @c default for reasons of security.
8939 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
8940 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
8941 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
8942 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure to
8943 not lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
8946 Delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
8948 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8949 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8950 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8951 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8952 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8955 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8956 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8958 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8960 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
8961 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
8962 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
8963 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
8964 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
8969 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8970 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8971 @cindex mail splitting
8972 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8974 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8975 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8976 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8977 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8978 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8979 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8981 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8984 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8985 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8986 ;; from real errors.
8987 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8989 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8990 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8991 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8992 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8993 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8994 ;; Other mailing lists...
8995 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8996 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8998 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
8999 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9003 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9004 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9005 the five possible split syntaxes:
9010 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
9013 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9014 element is a string, then that means that if header FIELD (a regexp)
9015 contains VALUE (also a regexp), then store the message as specified by
9019 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9020 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9021 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9022 be stored in one or more groups.
9025 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9026 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9029 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9030 this message anywhere.
9033 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9034 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9035 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9040 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9041 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9042 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9043 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9044 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9046 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9047 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9048 are expanded as specified by the variable
9049 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9050 the car of the cells contains the key, and the cdr contains a string.
9052 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9053 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9054 when all this splitting is performed.
9056 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9057 information in the headers, you can say things like:
9060 (any "debian-\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9063 That is, do @code{replace-match}-like substitions in the group names.
9066 @node Mail and Procmail
9067 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9072 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9073 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9074 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9075 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9076 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9078 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9079 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9082 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9083 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9084 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
9085 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9086 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9087 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9089 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
9092 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
9094 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9095 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9097 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9098 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9099 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9100 to include all your mail groups.
9102 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9103 method will be created automatically.
9105 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9106 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9107 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9108 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9109 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9110 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9111 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9112 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9114 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9115 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9116 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9117 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9118 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9120 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9121 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
9122 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9123 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9124 ever expiring the final article (i. e., the article with the highest
9125 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9127 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9128 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i. e., the incoming
9129 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9130 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9131 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9134 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9135 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9136 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9137 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9138 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9142 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9143 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9145 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9146 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9147 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9150 Doing so can be quite easy.
9152 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9153 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9154 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9155 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9156 your @code{nnml} groups.
9162 Go to the group buffer.
9165 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
9166 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9169 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9172 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
9176 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9177 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9180 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9181 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9182 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9183 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9184 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9186 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9187 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9188 using the new mail backend.
9192 @subsection Expiring Mail
9193 @cindex article expiry
9195 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9196 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9197 different approach to mail reading.
9199 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9200 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9201 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9202 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9203 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9204 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9207 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9208 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9209 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9210 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9211 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9212 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9213 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9214 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9216 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9217 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9218 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9219 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9220 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9221 column in the summary buffer.
9223 Note that making a group auto-expirable don't mean that all read
9224 articles are expired---only the articles that are marked as expirable
9225 will be expired. Also note the using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9226 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9227 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9229 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9230 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9233 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9234 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9237 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9238 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9240 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9241 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9242 doesn't really mix very well.
9244 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9245 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9246 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9247 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9250 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9251 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9252 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9253 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9256 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9258 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9260 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9262 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9264 ((string= group "important")
9270 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9271 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9273 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9274 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
9275 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
9278 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9279 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9281 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9282 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9283 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9284 easier for procmail users.
9286 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9287 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9288 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9289 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9290 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9291 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9292 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9293 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9294 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9295 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9296 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9297 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9298 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9301 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9305 @subsection Washing Mail
9306 @cindex mail washing
9307 @cindex list server brain damage
9308 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9310 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9311 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9312 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9313 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9314 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9315 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9317 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9318 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9319 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9322 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9323 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9324 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9325 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9328 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9329 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9330 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9331 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9334 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9335 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9336 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9337 Emacs running on MS machines.
9341 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9342 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9343 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9344 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9347 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9348 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9349 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9350 headers too make them look nice. Aaah.
9352 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9353 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9354 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9355 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9356 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9357 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9358 also be a list of regexp.
9360 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9361 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9364 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9365 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9368 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9369 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9370 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9374 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9375 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9376 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9380 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9381 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9382 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9389 @subsection Duplicates
9391 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9392 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9393 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9394 @cindex duplicate mails
9395 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
9396 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
9397 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
9398 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
9399 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
9400 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
9401 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
9402 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
9403 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
9404 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
9405 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
9406 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
9407 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
9409 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
9410 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
9411 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
9412 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
9414 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
9417 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
9418 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
9422 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
9423 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
9424 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
9425 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
9426 (any mail "mail.misc")
9433 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9434 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
9439 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
9440 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
9441 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
9442 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
9443 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
9446 @node Not Reading Mail
9447 @subsection Not Reading Mail
9449 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
9450 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
9451 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
9453 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
9454 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
9456 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9457 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9458 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9459 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9460 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9461 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
9462 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
9463 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
9464 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
9465 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
9466 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
9468 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
9469 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
9473 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
9474 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
9476 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
9477 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
9478 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
9481 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
9482 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
9483 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
9484 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
9485 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
9490 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
9492 @cindex unix mail box
9494 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9495 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9496 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
9497 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
9498 which group it belongs in.
9500 Virtual server settings:
9503 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
9504 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9505 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
9507 @item nnmbox-active-file
9508 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9509 The name of the active file for the mail box.
9511 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
9512 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9513 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
9519 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
9523 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9524 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9525 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
9526 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
9527 article to say which group it belongs in.
9529 Virtual server settings:
9532 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
9533 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9534 The name of the rmail mbox file.
9536 @item nnbabyl-active-file
9537 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9538 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
9540 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9541 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9542 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
9547 @subsubsection Mail Spool
9549 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
9551 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
9552 format. It should be used with some caution.
9554 @vindex nnml-directory
9555 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
9556 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
9557 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
9558 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
9560 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
9563 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
9564 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
9565 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
9566 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
9567 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
9568 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
9569 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
9570 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
9572 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
9573 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
9574 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
9575 backend when it comes to reading mail.
9577 Virtual server settings:
9580 @item nnml-directory
9581 @vindex nnml-directory
9582 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
9584 @item nnml-active-file
9585 @vindex nnml-active-file
9586 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
9588 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
9589 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
9590 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
9593 @item nnml-get-new-mail
9594 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9595 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
9597 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
9598 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
9599 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
9601 @item nnml-nov-file-name
9602 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
9603 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
9605 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9606 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9607 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
9611 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
9612 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
9613 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
9614 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
9615 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
9616 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
9617 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
9622 @subsubsection MH Spool
9624 @cindex mh-e mail spool
9626 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
9627 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
9628 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
9629 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
9631 Virtual server settings:
9634 @item nnmh-directory
9635 @vindex nnmh-directory
9636 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9638 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9639 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9640 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9643 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9644 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9645 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9646 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9647 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9648 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9649 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9654 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9656 @cindex mbox folders
9657 @cindex mail folders
9659 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9660 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9661 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9664 Virtual server settings:
9667 @item nnfolder-directory
9668 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9669 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9671 @item nnfolder-active-file
9672 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9673 The name of the active file.
9675 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9676 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9677 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9679 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9680 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9681 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9684 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9685 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9686 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
9687 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
9688 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
9689 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
9693 @section Other Sources
9695 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
9696 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
9700 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
9701 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
9702 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
9703 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
9704 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
9705 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
9709 @node Directory Groups
9710 @subsection Directory Groups
9712 @cindex directory groups
9714 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
9715 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
9718 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
9719 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
9720 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
9722 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
9723 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
9724 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the the directory name,
9725 @code{ange-ftp} will actually allow you to read this directory over at
9726 @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
9728 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
9730 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
9731 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
9732 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
9733 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
9736 @node Anything Groups
9737 @subsection Anything Groups
9740 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
9741 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
9742 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
9745 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
9746 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
9747 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
9748 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
9749 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
9750 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
9751 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
9752 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
9753 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
9754 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
9757 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
9758 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
9759 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
9760 in the article buffer, just as usual.
9762 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
9763 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
9764 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
9765 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
9767 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
9768 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
9769 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
9770 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
9771 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
9772 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
9773 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
9774 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
9779 @item nneething-map-file-directory
9780 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
9781 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
9782 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
9784 @item nneething-exclude-files
9785 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
9786 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
9787 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
9789 @item nneething-map-file
9790 @vindex nneething-map-file
9791 Name of the map files.
9795 @node Document Groups
9796 @subsection Document Groups
9798 @cindex documentation group
9801 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
9802 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
9809 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
9814 The standard Unix mbox file.
9816 @cindex MMDF mail box
9818 The MMDF mail box format.
9821 Several news articles appended into a file.
9824 @cindex rnews batch files
9825 The rnews batch transport format.
9826 @cindex forwarded messages
9835 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
9836 @cindex RFC 341 digest
9837 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
9839 @item standard-digest
9840 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
9843 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
9846 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
9847 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
9848 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
9851 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
9852 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
9853 group. And that's it.
9855 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
9856 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
9857 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
9858 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
9859 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
9860 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
9861 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
9862 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
9863 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
9864 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
9866 Virtual server variables:
9869 @item nndoc-article-type
9870 @vindex nndoc-article-type
9871 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
9872 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward},
9873 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or
9876 @item nndoc-post-type
9877 @vindex nndoc-post-type
9878 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
9879 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
9884 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
9888 @node Document Server Internals
9889 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
9891 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
9892 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
9893 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
9894 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
9896 First, here's an example document type definition:
9900 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
9901 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
9904 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
9905 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
9906 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
9907 types can be defined with very few settings:
9911 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
9912 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
9916 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
9917 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
9919 @item head-begin-function
9920 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
9923 @item nndoc-head-begin
9924 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
9927 @item nndoc-head-end
9928 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
9929 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
9931 @item body-begin-function
9932 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
9936 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
9939 @item body-end-function
9940 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
9944 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
9947 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
9948 regexp will be totally ignored.
9952 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
9953 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
9954 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
9955 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
9956 something that's palatable for Gnus:
9959 @item prepare-body-function
9960 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
9961 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
9962 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
9964 @item article-transform-function
9965 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
9966 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
9967 body of the article.
9969 @item generate-head-function
9970 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
9971 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
9972 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
9973 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
9977 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
9982 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9983 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9984 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
9985 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
9987 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
9988 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
9989 (subtype digest guess))
9992 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
9993 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
9994 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
9995 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
9996 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
9998 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
9999 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10000 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10001 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10002 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
10003 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
10004 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10005 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10006 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10007 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10008 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
10016 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10017 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10018 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10020 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10021 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10022 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10025 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10026 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10027 that interested in doing things properly.
10029 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10030 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10033 First some terminology:
10038 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10039 get news and/or mail from.
10042 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10043 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10046 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10050 @item message packets
10051 These are packets made at the server, and typically contains lots of
10052 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10053 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10055 @item response packets
10056 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10057 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10058 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10068 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10069 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10070 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10071 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10074 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10077 You put the packet in your home directory.
10080 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10081 the native or secondary server.
10084 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10085 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10088 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10092 You transfer this packet to the server.
10095 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10098 You then repeat until you die.
10102 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10103 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10106 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10107 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10108 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10112 @node SOUP Commands
10113 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10115 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10119 @kindex G s b (Group)
10120 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10121 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10122 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10123 process/prefix convention.
10126 @kindex G s w (Group)
10127 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10128 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10131 @kindex G s s (Group)
10132 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10133 Send all replies from the replies packet
10134 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10137 @kindex G s p (Group)
10138 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10139 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10142 @kindex G s r (Group)
10143 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10144 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10147 @kindex O s (Summary)
10148 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10149 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10150 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10151 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10156 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10161 @item gnus-soup-directory
10162 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10163 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10164 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10166 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10167 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10168 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10169 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10171 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10172 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10173 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10174 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10176 @item gnus-soup-packer
10177 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10178 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10179 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10181 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10182 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10183 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10184 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10186 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10187 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10188 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10190 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10191 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10192 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10193 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10199 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10202 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10203 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10204 you can read them at leisure.
10206 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10210 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10211 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10212 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10213 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10215 @item nnsoup-directory
10216 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10217 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10218 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10220 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10221 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10222 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
10223 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10225 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10226 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10227 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10228 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10229 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10231 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10232 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10233 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
10234 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10236 @item nnsoup-active-file
10237 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10238 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10239 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10240 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10241 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10243 @item nnsoup-packer
10244 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10245 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10246 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10248 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10249 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10250 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10251 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10253 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10254 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10255 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10258 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10259 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10260 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10267 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10269 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10270 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10271 more for that to happen.
10273 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10274 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10275 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10278 In specific, this is what it does:
10281 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10282 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10285 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10286 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10287 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10291 @subsection Web Searches
10295 @cindex InReference
10296 @cindex Usenet searches
10297 @cindex searching the Usenet
10299 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10300 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10301 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10302 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10303 searches without having to use a browser.
10305 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10306 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10307 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10308 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10309 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10311 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10312 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10313 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10314 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10315 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@code{Duplicate
10316 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10317 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10318 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10319 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10320 header---mark all articles that were posted before the last date you
10321 read the group as read.
10323 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10324 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10325 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10326 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10327 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10328 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10330 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10331 to use @code{nnweb}.
10333 Virtual server variables:
10338 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10339 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
10342 @vindex nnweb-search
10343 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10345 @item nnweb-max-hits
10346 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10347 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10350 @item nnweb-type-definition
10351 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10352 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10353 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10358 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10362 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10365 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10368 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10372 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10379 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10380 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10381 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10384 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10385 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10386 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10388 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
10394 @item nngateway-address
10395 @vindex nngateway-address
10396 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
10398 @item nngateway-header-transformation
10399 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
10400 News headers have often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
10401 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
10402 transformation should be called, and defaults to
10403 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
10404 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
10407 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
10408 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address---an article with this
10409 @code{Newsgroups} header:
10412 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
10415 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
10418 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
10423 So, to use this, simply say something like:
10426 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
10430 @node Combined Groups
10431 @section Combined Groups
10433 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
10437 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
10438 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
10442 @node Virtual Groups
10443 @subsection Virtual Groups
10445 @cindex virtual groups
10447 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
10450 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
10451 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
10452 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
10454 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
10455 regexp to match component groups.
10457 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
10458 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
10459 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
10460 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
10461 the virtual group.)
10463 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
10464 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
10467 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
10470 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
10471 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
10473 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
10474 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
10475 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
10476 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
10479 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
10482 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
10483 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
10484 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
10485 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
10486 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
10488 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
10489 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
10490 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
10492 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
10493 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
10494 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
10495 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
10496 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
10497 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
10498 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
10499 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
10500 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
10501 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
10502 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
10505 @node Kibozed Groups
10506 @subsection Kibozed Groups
10510 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
10511 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
10512 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
10513 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
10515 @kindex G k (Group)
10516 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
10519 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
10520 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
10521 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
10522 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
10524 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
10525 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
10526 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
10528 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
10529 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
10530 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
10531 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
10532 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
10533 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
10534 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
10535 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
10537 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
10538 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
10539 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
10540 Stranger things have happened.
10542 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
10543 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
10545 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
10546 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
10547 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
10548 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
10549 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
10550 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
10553 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
10554 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
10561 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
10562 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
10563 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
10566 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
10567 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
10568 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
10569 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
10570 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
10572 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
10573 before generating the summary buffer.
10575 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
10576 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
10577 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
10579 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
10580 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
10581 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
10582 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
10585 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
10586 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
10587 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
10588 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
10589 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
10590 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
10591 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
10592 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
10593 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
10594 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
10595 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
10596 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
10597 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
10598 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
10599 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
10600 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
10604 @node Summary Score Commands
10605 @section Summary Score Commands
10606 @cindex score commands
10608 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
10609 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
10610 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
10611 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
10612 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
10614 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
10615 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
10616 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
10617 score file the current one.
10619 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
10624 @kindex V s (Summary)
10625 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
10626 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
10629 @kindex V S (Summary)
10630 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
10631 Display the score of the current article
10632 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
10635 @kindex V t (Summary)
10636 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
10637 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
10638 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
10641 @kindex V R (Summary)
10642 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
10643 Run the current summary through the scoring process
10644 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
10645 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
10646 effect you're having.
10649 @kindex V a (Summary)
10650 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
10651 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
10652 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
10655 @kindex V c (Summary)
10656 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
10657 Make a different score file the current
10658 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
10661 @kindex V e (Summary)
10662 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
10663 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
10664 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
10668 @kindex V f (Summary)
10669 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
10670 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
10671 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
10674 @kindex V F (Summary)
10675 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10676 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
10677 after editing score files.
10680 @kindex V C (Summary)
10681 @findex gnus-score-customize
10682 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
10683 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
10686 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
10687 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
10688 Increase the score of the current article
10689 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
10692 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
10693 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
10694 Lower the score of the current article
10695 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
10698 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
10703 @kindex V m (Summary)
10704 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
10705 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
10706 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
10709 @kindex V x (Summary)
10710 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
10711 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
10712 expunge all articles below this score
10713 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
10716 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
10717 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
10722 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
10723 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
10725 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
10726 keys are available:
10730 Score on the author name.
10733 Score on the subject line.
10736 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
10739 Score on thread---the References line.
10745 Score on the number of lines.
10748 Score on the Message-ID.
10751 Score on followups.
10761 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
10762 what headers you are scoring on.
10774 Substring matching.
10777 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
10806 Greater than number.
10811 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
10812 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
10813 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
10817 Temporary score entry.
10820 Permanent score entry.
10823 Immediately scoring.
10828 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
10829 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
10830 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
10831 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
10833 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
10834 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
10835 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
10836 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
10837 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
10839 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
10840 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
10841 pretend they are keymaps or not.
10844 @node Group Score Commands
10845 @section Group Score Commands
10846 @cindex group score commands
10848 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
10853 @kindex W f (Group)
10854 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10855 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
10856 all the time. This command will flush the cache
10857 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
10862 @node Score Variables
10863 @section Score Variables
10864 @cindex score variables
10868 @item gnus-use-scoring
10869 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
10870 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
10871 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
10873 @item gnus-kill-killed
10874 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
10875 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
10876 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
10877 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
10878 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
10879 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
10880 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
10882 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
10883 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
10884 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
10885 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
10886 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
10888 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
10889 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
10890 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
10891 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
10893 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10894 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10895 @cindex score cache
10896 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
10897 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
10898 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
10899 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
10900 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
10901 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
10902 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
10905 @item gnus-save-score
10906 @vindex gnus-save-score
10907 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
10908 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
10909 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
10911 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10912 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10913 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
10914 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
10915 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
10916 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
10917 manually entered data.
10919 @item gnus-summary-default-score
10920 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
10921 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
10923 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
10924 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
10925 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
10926 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
10927 articles will be hidden.
10929 @item gnus-score-over-mark
10930 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
10931 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
10932 default. Default is @samp{+}.
10934 @item gnus-score-below-mark
10935 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
10936 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
10937 default. Default is @samp{-}.
10939 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10940 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10941 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
10942 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
10944 Predefined functions available are:
10947 @item gnus-score-find-single
10948 @findex gnus-score-find-single
10949 Only apply the group's own score file.
10951 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
10952 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
10953 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
10954 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
10955 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
10956 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
10957 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
10958 then a regexp match is done.
10960 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
10961 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
10963 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
10964 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
10965 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
10966 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
10968 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10969 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10970 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
10971 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
10972 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10975 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10976 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10977 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10978 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10979 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10980 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10983 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10984 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10985 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10986 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10987 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10989 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10990 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10991 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10992 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10993 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10994 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10995 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10998 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10999 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
11000 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
11005 @node Score File Format
11006 @section Score File Format
11007 @cindex score file format
11009 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
11010 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
11011 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
11013 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
11017 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
11019 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
11021 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
11023 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
11028 (mark-and-expunge -10)
11032 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
11033 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
11034 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
11035 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
11039 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
11040 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
11042 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
11043 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
11044 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
11046 Six keys are supported by this alist:
11051 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
11052 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
11053 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
11054 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
11055 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
11056 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
11057 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
11058 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
11059 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
11060 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
11061 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
11062 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
11063 to articles that matches these score entries.
11065 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
11066 score entry has one to four elements.
11070 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
11071 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
11075 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
11076 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
11077 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
11078 is successful. If this element is not present, the
11079 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
11080 instead. This is 1000 by default.
11083 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
11084 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
11085 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
11086 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
11087 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
11090 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
11091 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
11092 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
11093 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
11096 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
11097 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
11098 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
11099 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
11100 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
11101 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
11102 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
11103 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
11104 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
11105 instead, if you feel like.
11108 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
11109 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
11110 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
11111 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
11112 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
11113 the articles with few lines.
11116 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
11117 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
11118 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
11119 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
11120 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
11121 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
11122 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
11126 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
11127 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
11128 ISO8601 compact format first---@samp{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}. If you want to
11129 match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in every year, you
11130 could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string, for instance.
11131 (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so this will
11132 match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where the article
11133 was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the whole
11136 @item Head, Body, All
11137 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
11141 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
11142 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
11143 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
11144 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
11145 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
11146 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
11147 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
11151 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
11152 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread that is
11153 started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
11154 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
11155 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
11156 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
11157 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
11158 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
11159 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
11160 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
11161 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
11166 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11167 lower than this number will be marked as read.
11170 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11171 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
11173 @item mark-and-expunge
11174 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11175 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
11178 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
11179 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
11180 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
11181 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
11182 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
11185 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
11186 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
11189 @item exclude-files
11190 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
11191 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
11195 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
11196 ignored when handling global score files.
11199 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
11200 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
11203 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
11204 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
11205 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
11206 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
11208 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
11212 (mark-and-expunge -100)
11215 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
11216 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
11217 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
11218 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
11219 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
11221 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
11222 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
11223 ordinary scoring rules.
11226 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
11227 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
11228 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
11229 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
11230 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
11231 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
11232 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11233 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
11234 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
11235 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
11236 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
11240 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
11241 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
11242 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
11243 file for a number of groups.
11246 @cindex local variables
11247 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
11248 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
11249 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
11250 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
11255 @node Score File Editing
11256 @section Score File Editing
11258 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
11259 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
11260 with a mode for that.
11262 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
11263 additional commands:
11268 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
11269 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
11270 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
11271 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
11274 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
11275 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
11276 Insert the current date in numerical format
11277 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
11278 you were wondering.
11281 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
11282 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
11283 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
11284 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
11285 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
11290 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
11292 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
11293 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
11295 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
11296 e} to begin editing score files.
11299 @node Adaptive Scoring
11300 @section Adaptive Scoring
11301 @cindex adaptive scoring
11303 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
11304 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
11305 stupidity, to be precise.
11307 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
11308 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
11309 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
11310 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
11311 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11312 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
11313 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
11314 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
11315 variable to @code{(word line)}.
11317 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11318 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
11319 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
11320 might look something like this:
11323 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11324 '((gnus-unread-mark)
11325 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
11326 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
11327 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
11328 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
11329 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
11330 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
11331 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
11332 (gnus-ancient-mark)
11333 (gnus-low-score-mark)
11334 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
11337 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
11338 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
11339 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
11340 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
11341 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
11342 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
11345 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
11346 will be applied to each article.
11348 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
11349 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
11350 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
11351 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
11353 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
11354 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
11355 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
11356 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
11358 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
11359 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
11360 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
11361 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
11363 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
11364 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
11365 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
11366 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
11367 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
11368 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
11370 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
11371 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
11372 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
11373 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
11374 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
11375 aspirins afterwards.)
11377 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
11378 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
11379 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
11381 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
11382 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
11383 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
11385 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
11386 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
11387 let you use different rules in different groups.
11389 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
11390 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
11391 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
11394 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
11395 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
11396 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
11397 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
11398 the length of the match is less than
11399 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
11400 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
11403 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11404 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
11405 headers. If you adapt on words, the
11406 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
11407 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
11410 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11411 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
11412 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
11413 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
11414 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
11417 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
11418 word that appears in subjects of articles that are marked with
11419 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
11420 score with 30 points.
11422 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
11423 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
11424 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
11425 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
11426 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
11428 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
11429 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
11430 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
11431 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
11433 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
11434 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
11435 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
11437 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
11438 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
11439 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
11440 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
11443 @node Home Score File
11444 @section Home Score File
11446 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
11447 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
11448 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
11449 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
11451 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
11452 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
11453 could perhaps use the same home score file.
11455 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
11456 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
11461 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
11465 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
11466 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
11470 A list. The elements in this list can be:
11474 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
11475 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
11478 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
11479 the home score file.
11482 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
11485 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
11490 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
11493 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11494 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
11497 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
11498 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
11501 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11502 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
11505 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
11507 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
11508 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
11509 their own home score files:
11512 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11513 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
11514 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
11515 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
11516 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
11519 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
11520 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
11521 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
11522 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
11523 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
11525 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
11526 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
11527 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
11528 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
11529 precedence over this variable.
11532 @node Followups To Yourself
11533 @section Followups To Yourself
11535 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
11536 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
11537 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
11538 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
11539 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
11540 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
11544 @item gnus-score-followup-article
11545 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
11546 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
11549 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
11550 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
11551 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
11555 @vindex message-sent-hook
11556 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
11557 @code{message-sent-hook}.
11559 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
11560 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
11564 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11565 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11568 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
11569 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
11574 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf@@.*eyesore.no>" 1000 nil r))
11577 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
11578 is system-dependent.
11582 @section Scoring Tips
11583 @cindex scoring tips
11589 @cindex scoring crossposts
11590 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
11591 the @code{Xref} header.
11593 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
11596 @item Multiple crossposts
11597 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
11598 more than, say, 3 groups:
11600 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
11603 @item Matching on the body
11604 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
11605 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
11606 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
11607 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
11608 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
11609 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
11610 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
11613 @item Marking as read
11614 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
11615 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
11616 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
11620 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
11622 @item Negated character classes
11623 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
11624 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
11625 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
11629 @node Reverse Scoring
11630 @section Reverse Scoring
11631 @cindex reverse scoring
11633 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
11634 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
11635 like this in your score file:
11639 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
11644 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
11645 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
11648 @node Global Score Files
11649 @section Global Score Files
11650 @cindex global score files
11652 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
11653 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
11654 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
11656 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
11657 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
11658 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
11660 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
11661 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
11662 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
11663 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
11664 files are applicable to which group.
11666 Say you want to use the score file
11667 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
11668 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
11671 (setq gnus-global-score-files
11672 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
11673 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
11676 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
11677 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
11678 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
11679 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
11680 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
11682 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
11683 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
11685 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
11686 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
11687 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
11688 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
11689 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
11690 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
11692 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
11698 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
11700 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
11702 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
11704 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
11705 lowered out of existence.
11707 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
11708 articles completely.
11711 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
11712 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
11713 old articles for a long time.
11716 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
11717 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
11718 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
11719 holding our breath yet?
11723 @section Kill Files
11726 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
11727 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
11728 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
11730 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
11731 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
11732 files into score files.
11734 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
11735 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
11736 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
11737 that isn't a very good idea.
11739 Normal kill files look like this:
11742 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11743 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
11747 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
11748 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
11750 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
11751 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
11754 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
11759 @kindex M-k (Summary)
11760 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
11761 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
11764 @kindex M-K (Summary)
11765 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
11766 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
11769 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
11774 @kindex M-k (Group)
11775 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
11776 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
11779 @kindex M-K (Group)
11780 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
11781 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
11784 Kill file variables:
11787 @item gnus-kill-file-name
11788 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
11789 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
11790 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
11791 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
11792 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
11793 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
11795 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11796 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11797 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
11798 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
11801 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
11802 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
11803 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
11804 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
11805 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
11806 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
11807 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
11808 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
11809 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
11811 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11812 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11813 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
11818 @node Converting Kill Files
11819 @section Converting Kill Files
11821 @cindex converting kill files
11823 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
11824 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
11825 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
11828 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
11829 You can fetch it from
11830 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
11832 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
11833 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
11834 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
11842 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
11843 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
11844 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
11846 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
11847 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
11848 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
11849 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
11850 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
11851 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
11852 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
11853 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
11857 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
11858 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
11859 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
11860 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
11864 @node Using GroupLens
11865 @subsection Using GroupLens
11867 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
11869 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
11870 better bit in town is at the moment.
11872 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
11876 @item gnus-use-grouplens
11877 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
11878 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
11879 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
11881 @item grouplens-pseudonym
11882 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
11883 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
11884 with the Better Bit Bureau.
11886 @item grouplens-newsgroups
11887 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
11888 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
11892 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
11893 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
11894 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
11895 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
11896 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
11897 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
11900 @node Rating Articles
11901 @subsection Rating Articles
11903 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
11904 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
11905 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
11906 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
11909 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
11914 @kindex r (GroupLens)
11915 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
11916 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
11919 @kindex k (GroupLens)
11920 @findex grouplens-score-thread
11921 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
11922 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
11923 threads in rec.humor.
11927 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
11928 the score of the article you're reading.
11933 @kindex n (GroupLens)
11934 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
11935 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
11938 @kindex , (GroupLens)
11939 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
11940 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
11944 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
11945 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
11948 @node Displaying Predictions
11949 @subsection Displaying Predictions
11951 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
11952 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
11953 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
11954 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
11955 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
11957 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
11958 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
11959 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
11960 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
11961 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
11962 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
11963 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
11964 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
11965 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
11966 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
11967 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
11968 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
11969 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
11971 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
11972 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
11973 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
11974 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
11976 The following are legal values for that variable.
11979 @item prediction-spot
11980 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
11983 @item confidence-interval
11984 A numeric confidence interval.
11986 @item prediction-bar
11987 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
11989 @item confidence-bar
11990 Numerical confidence.
11992 @item confidence-spot
11993 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
11995 @item prediction-num
11996 Plain-old numeric value.
11998 @item confidence-plus-minus
11999 Prediction +/i confidence.
12004 @node GroupLens Variables
12005 @subsection GroupLens Variables
12009 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
12010 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
12011 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
12012 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
12013 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
12015 @item grouplens-bbb-host
12016 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
12019 @item grouplens-bbb-port
12020 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
12022 @item grouplens-score-offset
12023 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
12024 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
12027 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
12028 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
12029 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
12034 @node Advanced Scoring
12035 @section Advanced Scoring
12037 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
12038 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
12039 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
12040 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
12041 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
12043 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
12047 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
12048 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
12049 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
12053 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
12054 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
12056 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
12057 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
12058 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
12059 non-@code{nil} value.
12061 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
12062 operator, and various match operators.
12069 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
12070 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
12071 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
12076 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
12077 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
12078 then this operator will return @code{false}.
12083 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
12084 inverse of the value of its argument.
12088 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
12089 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
12090 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
12091 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
12092 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
12093 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
12094 the ancestry you want to go.
12096 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
12097 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
12098 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
12099 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
12100 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
12103 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
12104 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
12106 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
12107 when he's talking about Gnus:
12111 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12112 ("subject" "Gnus"))
12118 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
12122 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12129 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
12130 really don't want to read what he's written:
12134 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12135 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
12139 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
12140 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
12141 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
12148 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
12149 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
12150 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
12151 ("body" "white.*socks"))
12155 The possibilities are endless.
12158 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
12159 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
12161 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
12162 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
12163 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
12164 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
12165 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
12166 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
12167 @samp{subject}) first.
12169 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
12170 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
12181 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
12182 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
12188 ("subject" "Gnus")))
12195 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
12196 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
12201 @section Score Decays
12202 @cindex score decays
12205 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
12206 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
12207 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
12208 use them in any sensible way.
12210 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
12211 @findex gnus-decay-score
12212 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
12213 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
12214 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
12215 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
12216 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
12217 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
12218 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
12219 definition of that function:
12222 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
12225 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
12227 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
12229 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
12232 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
12233 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
12234 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
12235 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
12239 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
12242 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
12245 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
12249 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
12250 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
12251 the new score, which should be an integer.
12253 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
12254 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
12261 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
12262 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
12263 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
12264 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
12265 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
12266 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
12267 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
12268 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
12269 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
12270 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
12271 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
12272 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
12273 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
12274 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
12275 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
12276 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolited commercial email.
12277 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
12281 @node Process/Prefix
12282 @section Process/Prefix
12283 @cindex process/prefix convention
12285 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
12286 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
12288 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
12289 command to be performed on.
12293 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
12294 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
12295 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
12296 with the current one.
12298 @vindex transient-mark-mode
12299 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
12300 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
12302 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
12303 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
12306 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
12307 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
12309 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
12312 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
12313 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
12314 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
12315 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12317 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
12318 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
12319 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
12320 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
12321 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
12322 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
12323 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
12324 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
12328 @section Interactive
12329 @cindex interaction
12333 @item gnus-novice-user
12334 @vindex gnus-novice-user
12335 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
12336 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
12337 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
12338 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
12341 @item gnus-expert-user
12342 @vindex gnus-expert-user
12343 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
12344 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
12345 matter how strange.
12347 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
12348 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
12349 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
12350 is @code{t} by default.
12352 @item gnus-interactive-exit
12353 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
12354 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
12359 @node Formatting Variables
12360 @section Formatting Variables
12361 @cindex formatting variables
12363 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
12364 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
12365 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
12366 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
12367 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
12370 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
12371 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
12372 lots of percentages everywhere.
12375 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
12376 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
12377 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
12378 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
12381 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
12382 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
12383 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
12384 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
12385 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
12386 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
12387 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
12388 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
12390 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
12391 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
12393 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
12394 @findex gnus-update-format
12395 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
12396 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
12397 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
12398 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
12402 @node Formatting Basics
12403 @subsection Formatting Basics
12405 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
12406 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
12407 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
12409 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
12410 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
12411 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
12412 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
12413 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
12416 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
12417 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
12418 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
12419 less than 4 characters wide.
12422 @node Advanced Formatting
12423 @subsection Advanced Formatting
12425 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
12426 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
12427 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
12428 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
12430 These are the legal modifiers:
12435 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
12439 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
12444 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
12447 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
12452 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
12455 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
12458 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
12461 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
12465 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
12466 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
12467 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
12468 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
12469 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
12470 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
12471 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
12473 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
12474 last operation, padding.
12476 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
12477 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
12478 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
12479 @xref{Compilation}.
12482 @node User-Defined Specs
12483 @subsection User-Defined Specs
12485 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
12486 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
12487 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
12488 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
12489 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
12490 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
12491 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
12492 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
12493 should protect against that.
12495 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
12496 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
12497 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
12498 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
12502 @node Formatting Fonts
12503 @subsection Formatting Fonts
12505 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
12506 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
12507 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
12508 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
12511 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
12512 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
12513 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
12514 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
12515 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
12516 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
12518 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
12521 ;; Create three face types.
12522 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
12523 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
12525 ;; We want the article count to be in
12526 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
12527 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
12528 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
12530 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
12531 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
12533 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
12534 (setq gnus-group-line-format
12535 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
12538 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
12539 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
12541 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
12542 mode-line variables.
12545 @node Windows Configuration
12546 @section Windows Configuration
12547 @cindex windows configuration
12549 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
12551 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
12552 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
12553 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
12554 @code{t} by default.
12556 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
12557 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
12558 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
12561 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
12562 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
12563 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12567 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
12568 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
12569 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
12570 possible names is listed below.
12572 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
12573 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
12576 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12580 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
12581 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
12582 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
12583 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
12584 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
12585 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
12586 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
12587 size spec per split.
12589 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
12592 Here's a more complicated example:
12595 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
12596 (summary 0.25 point)
12597 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
12601 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
12602 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
12603 occupy, not a percentage.
12605 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
12606 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
12607 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
12608 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
12609 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
12612 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
12615 (article (horizontal 1.0
12620 (summary 0.25 point)
12625 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
12626 @code{horizontal} thingie?
12628 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
12629 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
12630 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
12631 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
12632 the screen is to be given to this strip.
12634 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
12635 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
12636 lines from the splits.
12638 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
12642 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
12643 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
12644 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
12645 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
12646 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
12647 size = number | frame-params
12648 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
12651 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
12652 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
12653 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
12654 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
12656 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
12657 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
12658 @cindex window height
12659 @cindex window width
12660 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
12661 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
12662 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
12663 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
12664 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
12665 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
12667 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
12668 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
12669 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
12670 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
12672 @findex gnus-configure-frame
12673 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
12674 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
12675 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
12676 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
12677 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
12678 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
12679 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
12680 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
12681 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
12682 configuration list.
12685 (gnus-configure-frame
12689 (article 0.3 point))
12697 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
12698 @code{frame} split:
12701 (gnus-configure-frame
12704 (summary 0.25 point)
12706 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
12707 (user-position . t)
12708 (left . -1) (top . 1))
12713 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
12714 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
12715 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
12716 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
12717 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
12718 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
12721 Here's a list of all possible keys for
12722 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
12724 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
12725 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
12726 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
12727 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
12728 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
12729 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
12731 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
12732 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
12733 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
12737 (message (horizontal 1.0
12738 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
12740 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
12745 @findex gnus-add-configuration
12746 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
12747 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
12748 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
12749 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
12752 (gnus-add-configuration
12753 '(article (vertical 1.0
12755 (summary .25 point)
12759 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
12760 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
12761 Gnus has been loaded.
12763 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
12764 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
12765 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
12766 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
12767 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
12771 @section Compilation
12772 @cindex compilation
12773 @cindex byte-compilation
12775 @findex gnus-compile
12777 Remember all those line format specification variables?
12778 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
12779 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
12780 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
12781 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
12782 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
12785 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
12786 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
12787 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
12788 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
12789 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
12790 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
12791 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
12795 @section Mode Lines
12798 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
12799 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
12800 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
12801 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
12802 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
12803 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
12804 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
12807 @cindex display-time
12809 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
12810 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
12811 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
12812 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
12813 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
12814 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
12815 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
12816 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
12819 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
12821 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
12822 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
12824 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
12825 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
12826 (length display-time-string)))))
12829 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
12830 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
12831 Note that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the
12832 percentage complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line;
12833 the user should configure this variable appropriately for their
12837 @node Highlighting and Menus
12838 @section Highlighting and Menus
12840 @cindex highlighting
12843 @vindex gnus-visual
12844 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
12845 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
12846 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
12849 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
12850 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
12853 @item group-highlight
12854 Do highlights in the group buffer.
12855 @item summary-highlight
12856 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
12857 @item article-highlight
12858 Do highlights in the article buffer.
12860 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
12862 Create menus in the group buffer.
12864 Create menus in the summary buffers.
12866 Create menus in the article buffer.
12868 Create menus in the browse buffer.
12870 Create menus in the server buffer.
12872 Create menus in the score buffers.
12874 Create menus in all buffers.
12877 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
12878 buffers, you could say something like:
12881 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
12884 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
12887 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
12890 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
12891 in all Gnus buffers.
12893 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
12896 @item gnus-mouse-face
12897 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
12898 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
12899 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
12903 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
12907 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
12908 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
12909 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
12911 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
12912 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
12913 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
12915 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
12916 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
12917 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
12919 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
12920 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
12921 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
12923 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
12924 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
12925 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
12927 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
12928 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
12929 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
12940 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
12941 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
12942 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
12943 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
12944 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
12948 @vindex gnus-carpal
12949 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
12950 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
12951 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
12956 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12957 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12958 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
12960 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
12961 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
12962 Face used on buttons.
12964 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
12965 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
12966 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
12968 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12969 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12970 Buttons in the group buffer.
12972 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12973 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12974 Buttons in the summary buffer.
12976 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12977 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12978 Buttons in the server buffer.
12980 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12981 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12982 Buttons in the browse buffer.
12985 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
12986 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
12987 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
12995 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
12996 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
12997 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
12998 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
12999 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
13001 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
13002 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
13003 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
13005 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
13006 been idle for thirty minutes:
13009 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
13012 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
13016 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
13019 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
13020 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
13021 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
13023 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
13024 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
13025 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
13026 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
13028 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
13029 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
13030 @var{idle} minutes.
13032 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
13033 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
13036 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
13037 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
13038 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
13040 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
13041 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
13042 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
13043 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
13045 @vindex gnus-use-demon
13046 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
13047 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
13049 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
13050 your @file{.gnus} file:
13052 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
13054 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
13057 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
13058 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
13059 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
13060 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
13061 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
13062 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
13063 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
13064 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
13065 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
13066 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
13068 @findex gnus-demon-init
13069 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
13070 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
13071 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
13072 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
13073 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
13075 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
13076 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
13077 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
13086 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
13087 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
13089 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
13090 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
13091 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
13092 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
13095 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
13096 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
13097 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
13098 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
13100 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
13101 this will make spam disappear.
13103 There are some variables to customize, of course:
13106 @item gnus-use-nocem
13107 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
13108 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
13111 @item gnus-nocem-groups
13112 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
13113 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
13114 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
13115 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
13117 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
13118 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
13119 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
13120 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
13121 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
13122 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
13124 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
13127 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
13128 @cindex Chris Lewis
13129 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
13130 usenet abuse than anybody else.
13133 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
13134 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
13135 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
13137 @item jem@@xpat.com;
13139 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
13142 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
13143 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
13144 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
13147 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
13148 ones you want to listen to.
13150 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
13151 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
13153 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
13154 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
13155 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
13156 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
13158 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
13159 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
13162 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
13164 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
13172 This might be dangerous, though.
13174 @item gnus-nocem-directory
13175 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
13176 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
13177 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
13179 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13180 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13181 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
13182 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
13183 might then see old spam.
13187 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
13188 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
13189 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
13190 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
13196 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
13197 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
13198 over your shoulder as you read news.
13201 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
13202 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
13203 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
13204 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
13205 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
13210 @subsection Picon Basics
13212 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
13215 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
13216 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
13217 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
13218 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
13219 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
13220 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
13221 @code{GIF} formats.
13224 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases, point
13225 your Web browser at
13226 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
13228 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13229 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
13230 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
13233 @node Picon Requirements
13234 @subsection Picon Requirements
13236 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
13237 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
13240 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
13242 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13243 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
13244 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
13245 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
13249 @subsection Easy Picons
13251 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
13252 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
13255 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
13256 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13257 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
13258 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
13263 @subsection Hard Picons
13265 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
13266 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
13267 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
13268 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
13269 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
13273 @item gnus-picons-display-where
13274 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13275 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
13276 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
13277 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
13278 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
13279 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
13280 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
13284 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
13285 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
13287 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
13288 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
13289 displayed at the right time.
13291 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
13292 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13294 @item gnus-article-display-picons
13295 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13296 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
13297 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
13298 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13300 @item gnus-group-display-picons
13301 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13302 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
13303 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
13304 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
13305 is set to @code{article}.
13307 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
13308 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13309 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
13310 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13314 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
13315 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
13318 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13322 @node Picon Configuration
13323 @subsection Picon Configuration
13325 The following variables offer further control over how things are
13326 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
13327 don't need to worry about.
13330 @item gnus-picons-database
13331 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13332 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
13333 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
13334 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
13336 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
13337 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
13338 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
13341 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
13342 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
13343 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
13344 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")} is the default.
13346 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
13347 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
13348 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
13349 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
13350 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
13352 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13353 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13354 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
13355 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
13356 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
13357 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
13359 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13360 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13361 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
13362 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
13364 @item gnus-picons-buffer
13365 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
13366 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
13367 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
13376 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
13377 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
13378 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
13380 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
13381 Gnus---it's all just data that is designed to look nice to the user.
13382 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
13383 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
13384 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
13385 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
13386 @code{undo} function.
13388 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
13389 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
13390 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
13391 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
13392 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
13393 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
13394 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
13395 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
13396 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
13397 never be totally undoable.
13399 @findex gnus-undo-mode
13400 @vindex gnus-use-undo
13402 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
13403 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
13404 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
13405 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
13410 @section Moderation
13413 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
13414 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
13415 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
13418 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
13422 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
13425 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
13427 If you are the moderation of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
13432 You split your incoming mail by matching on
13433 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
13434 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
13437 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
13438 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
13441 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
13442 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
13446 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
13449 (setq gnus-moderated-list
13450 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
13454 @node XEmacs Enhancements
13455 @section XEmacs Enhancements
13458 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
13459 advantage of that. Relevant variables include:
13462 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13463 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13464 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
13465 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
13466 unusual directory structure.
13468 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13469 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13470 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
13471 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
13473 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13474 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13475 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
13476 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
13477 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
13478 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
13480 @item gnus-use-toolbar
13481 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
13482 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
13483 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
13484 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
13486 @item gnus-group-toolbar
13487 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
13488 The toolbar in the group buffer.
13490 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
13491 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
13492 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
13494 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13495 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13496 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
13498 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13499 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13500 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
13506 @node Fuzzy Matching
13507 @section Fuzzy Matching
13508 @cindex fuzzy matching
13510 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
13511 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
13513 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
13514 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
13515 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
13517 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
13518 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
13519 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
13520 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
13521 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
13524 @node Thwarting Email Spam
13525 @section Thwarting Email Spam
13529 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
13531 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
13532 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
13533 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
13534 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
13535 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
13536 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
13537 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
13538 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
13541 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
13542 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
13543 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and selects the
13544 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
13545 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrouos hair on your toes!'')
13546 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
13550 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
13551 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
13553 First, pick one (1) legal mail address that you can be reached at, and
13554 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
13555 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
13556 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
13557 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
13558 part of the mail address.)
13561 (setq message-default-news-headers
13562 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
13565 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13566 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
13571 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
13572 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
13573 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
13579 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
13580 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
13581 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
13582 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
13584 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
13585 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
13586 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
13587 twarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
13588 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
13589 your fancy split rule in this way:
13594 (to "larsi" "misc")
13598 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
13599 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
13600 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
13601 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
13602 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
13604 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
13605 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, availiable FOR FREE
13606 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
13607 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
13608 cosmic balance somewhat.
13610 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
13611 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
13612 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
13613 to non-existant domains is yucky, in my opinion.
13616 @node Various Various
13617 @section Various Various
13623 @item gnus-home-directory
13624 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
13625 defaults to @file{~/}.
13627 @item gnus-directory
13628 @vindex gnus-directory
13629 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
13630 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
13631 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
13633 @item gnus-default-directory
13634 @vindex gnus-default-directory
13635 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
13636 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
13637 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
13638 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13639 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
13640 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
13643 @vindex gnus-verbose
13644 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
13645 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
13646 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
13647 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
13648 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
13650 @item gnus-verbose-backends
13651 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
13652 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
13653 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
13655 @item nnheader-max-head-length
13656 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
13657 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
13658 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
13659 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
13660 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
13661 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
13662 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
13663 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
13666 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
13667 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
13668 This variable says how big a piece of each article to read when doing
13669 the operation described above.
13671 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13672 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13674 @cindex illegal characters in file names
13675 @cindex characters in file names
13676 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
13677 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
13678 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
13681 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13685 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
13686 Windows (phooey) systems.
13688 @item gnus-hidden-properties
13689 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
13690 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
13691 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
13692 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
13694 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
13695 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
13696 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
13697 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
13698 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
13700 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
13701 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
13702 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
13711 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
13712 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
13714 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
13716 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
13722 Not because of victories @*
13725 but for the common sunshine,@*
13727 the largess of the spring.
13731 but for the day's work done@*
13732 as well as I was able;@*
13733 not for a seat upon the dais@*
13734 but at the common table.@*
13739 @chapter Appendices
13742 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
13743 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
13744 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
13745 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
13746 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
13747 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
13748 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
13756 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
13757 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
13759 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
13760 can point your (feh!) web browser to
13761 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
13762 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
13763 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
13765 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
13766 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
13767 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
13768 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
13769 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
13770 appropriate name, don't you think?)
13772 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
13773 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
13774 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
13775 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
13777 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
13778 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
13779 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
13781 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
13782 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
13784 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
13785 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
13787 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a name that is prefixed --
13788 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
13789 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
13790 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
13791 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
13795 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
13796 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
13797 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
13798 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
13799 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
13800 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
13801 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
13808 What's the point of Gnus?
13810 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
13811 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
13812 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
13813 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
13814 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
13815 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
13816 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
13817 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
13818 keep track of millions of people who post?
13820 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
13821 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
13822 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
13823 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
13824 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
13825 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
13826 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
13827 of you to explore and invent.
13829 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
13832 @node Compatibility
13833 @subsection Compatibility
13835 @cindex compatibility
13836 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
13837 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
13838 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
13843 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
13847 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
13850 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
13853 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
13854 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
13855 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
13856 important variables have their values copied into their global
13857 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
13858 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
13860 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
13861 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
13862 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
13863 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
13864 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
13868 @cindex highlighting
13869 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
13870 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
13871 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
13872 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
13873 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
13874 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
13877 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
13878 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
13879 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
13880 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
13882 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
13883 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
13884 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
13885 to stop doing it the old way.
13887 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
13889 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
13891 @cindex reporting bugs
13893 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
13894 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
13895 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
13899 @subsection Conformity
13901 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
13902 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
13909 There are no known breaches of this standard.
13913 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
13915 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13916 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13917 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
13918 the next inspection.
13920 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
13921 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
13922 We do have some breaches to this one.
13927 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
13928 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
13931 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
13932 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
13933 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
13934 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
13935 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
13940 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
13941 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
13946 @subsection Emacsen
13952 Gnus should work on :
13957 Emacs 19.32 and up.
13960 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
13963 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
13967 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
13968 reliably, at least.
13970 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
13971 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
13972 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
13977 @subsection Contributors
13978 @cindex contributors
13980 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
13981 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
13982 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
13983 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
13984 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
13985 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
13986 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
13987 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
13988 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
13989 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
13991 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
13997 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
14000 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
14001 well as numerous other things).
14004 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
14007 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
14010 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
14011 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
14014 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
14017 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
14018 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
14021 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
14024 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
14027 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
14030 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
14033 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
14034 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
14037 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
14040 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
14043 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
14046 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
14050 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
14053 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
14056 Ricardo Nassif, Mark Borges, and Jost Krieger---proof-reading.
14059 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
14062 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports.
14066 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
14075 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
14079 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
14094 Massimo Campostrini,
14098 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
14103 Michael Welsh Duggan,
14109 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
14114 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
14118 François Felix Ingrand,
14119 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
14126 Peter Skov Knudsen,
14127 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
14128 Thor Kristoffersen,
14143 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
14144 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
14150 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
14155 John McClary Prevost,
14163 Philippe Schnoebelen,
14164 Randal L. Schwartz,
14184 Katsumi Yamaoka. @c Yamaoka
14186 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
14187 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
14188 (550kB and counting).
14190 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
14193 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
14194 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
14198 @subsection New Features
14199 @cindex new features
14202 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
14203 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
14204 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
14207 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
14208 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
14209 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
14213 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
14215 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
14220 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
14221 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
14224 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
14225 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
14228 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
14231 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
14232 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
14233 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
14236 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
14237 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
14238 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
14239 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
14242 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
14243 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14246 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
14247 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
14248 (@pxref{The Active File}).
14251 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
14252 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
14255 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
14256 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
14257 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
14260 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
14261 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
14262 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
14265 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
14266 the @file{.emacs} file.
14269 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
14270 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14273 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
14274 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
14277 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
14278 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14281 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
14282 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
14285 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
14286 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
14289 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
14292 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
14293 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
14296 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
14297 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
14300 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
14301 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
14304 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
14307 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
14308 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
14311 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
14315 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
14319 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
14320 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
14323 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
14329 @node September Gnus
14330 @subsubsection September Gnus
14332 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
14337 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
14338 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
14342 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
14343 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
14347 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
14351 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
14352 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
14355 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
14359 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
14362 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
14365 A @code{trn}-line tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
14368 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
14372 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
14373 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
14376 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
14380 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
14384 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
14388 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
14392 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
14395 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
14396 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
14399 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
14403 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
14404 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
14407 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
14410 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
14411 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
14412 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
14415 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
14419 The Gnus cache is much faster.
14422 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
14426 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
14427 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14430 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
14431 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
14434 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
14435 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14438 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
14439 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
14440 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
14443 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
14444 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
14447 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
14450 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14453 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14454 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
14458 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
14461 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
14464 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
14465 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
14468 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
14472 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
14475 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
14478 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
14482 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14485 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
14489 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
14492 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
14495 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
14496 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
14499 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
14500 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
14504 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
14505 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
14508 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
14512 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
14513 buffer to allow easier treatment.
14516 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
14519 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
14523 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
14527 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
14528 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
14531 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
14535 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
14536 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14539 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
14540 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14543 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
14547 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14550 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14551 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
14555 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
14558 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
14564 @subsubsection Red Gnus
14566 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
14571 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
14574 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
14575 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
14578 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
14579 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
14583 Article washing status can be displayed in the
14584 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
14587 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
14590 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
14591 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
14594 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
14598 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
14599 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}).
14602 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
14603 Server Internals}).
14606 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
14610 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
14613 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
14614 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
14617 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
14618 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
14619 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
14622 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
14623 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14626 A way to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed when
14627 generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
14630 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
14634 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
14635 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14638 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
14639 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
14642 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
14646 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
14649 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
14653 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
14654 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14657 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
14658 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14661 A new command for reading collections of documents
14662 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
14663 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
14666 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
14670 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
14671 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
14674 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
14675 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
14676 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
14679 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
14680 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
14684 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
14688 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
14692 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
14696 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
14700 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
14701 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
14704 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
14707 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
14713 @node Newest Features
14714 @subsection Newest Features
14717 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
14720 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
14724 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
14726 Really do unbinhexing.
14729 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
14730 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
14732 @file{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/rgnus/todo>} is where the actual
14733 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
14734 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
14739 @section The Manual
14743 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
14744 either @code{texi2dvi}
14746 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
14747 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
14749 to get what you hold in your hands now.
14751 The following conventions have been used:
14756 This is a @samp{string}
14759 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
14762 This is a @file{file}
14765 This is a @code{symbol}
14769 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
14773 (setq flargnoze "yes")
14776 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
14779 (setq flumphel 'yes)
14782 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
14783 ever get them confused.
14787 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
14788 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
14789 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
14790 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
14791 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
14792 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
14793 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
14800 @section Terminology
14802 @cindex terminology
14807 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
14808 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
14809 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
14810 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
14811 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
14815 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
14816 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
14817 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
14818 not posting, and replying is not following up.
14822 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
14826 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
14831 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
14832 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
14833 is all done by the backends.
14837 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
14838 default, way of getting news.
14842 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
14843 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
14847 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
14848 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
14852 A message that has been posted as news.
14855 @cindex mail message
14856 A message that has been mailed.
14860 A mail message or news article
14864 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
14869 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
14874 A line from the head of an article.
14878 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
14879 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
14883 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
14884 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
14885 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
14886 normal @sc{head} format.
14890 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
14891 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
14892 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
14893 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
14894 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
14895 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
14897 @item killed groups
14898 @cindex killed groups
14899 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
14900 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
14902 @item zombie groups
14903 @cindex zombie groups
14904 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
14907 @cindex active file
14908 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
14909 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
14910 is rather large, as you might surmise.
14913 @cindex bogus groups
14914 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
14915 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
14916 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
14920 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
14922 @item select method
14923 @cindex select method
14924 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
14927 @item virtual server
14928 @cindex virtual server
14929 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
14930 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the things as a
14931 whole is a virtual server.
14935 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
14936 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
14939 @item ephemeral groups
14940 @cindex ephemeral groups
14941 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
14942 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
14943 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
14946 @cindex solid groups
14947 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
14948 group buffer are solid groups.
14950 @item sparse articles
14951 @cindex sparse articles
14952 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
14953 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
14958 @node Customization
14959 @section Customization
14960 @cindex general customization
14962 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
14963 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
14964 for some quite common situations.
14967 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
14968 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
14969 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
14970 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
14974 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
14975 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
14977 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
14978 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
14979 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
14983 @item gnus-read-active-file
14984 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
14985 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
14986 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14987 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
14988 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
14990 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
14991 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
14992 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
14993 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
14997 @node Slow Terminal Connection
14998 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
15000 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
15001 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
15002 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
15006 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
15007 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
15008 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
15009 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
15010 horizontal and vertical recentering.
15012 @item gnus-visible-headers
15013 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
15014 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
15015 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
15016 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
15018 @item gnus-article-display-hook
15019 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
15021 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
15022 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
15023 gnus-article-hide-citation))
15026 @item gnus-use-full-window
15027 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
15028 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
15029 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
15030 want to read them anyway.
15032 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
15033 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
15036 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
15037 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
15038 lines, which might save some time.
15042 @node Little Disk Space
15043 @subsection Little Disk Space
15046 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
15047 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
15051 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
15052 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
15053 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
15054 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15057 @item gnus-save-killed-list
15058 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
15059 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
15060 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
15061 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
15067 @subsection Slow Machine
15068 @cindex slow machine
15070 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
15071 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
15073 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
15074 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
15076 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
15077 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
15078 summary buffer faster.
15080 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
15081 processing a bit faster.
15084 @node Troubleshooting
15085 @section Troubleshooting
15086 @cindex troubleshooting
15088 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
15096 Make sure your computer is switched on.
15099 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
15100 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
15104 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
15105 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
15106 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
15107 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
15110 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
15114 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
15115 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
15116 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
15117 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
15118 something like that.
15121 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
15124 @cindex reporting bugs
15126 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15128 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
15129 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
15130 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
15131 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
15133 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
15134 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
15135 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
15136 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
15139 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
15140 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
15141 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
15142 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
15143 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
15144 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
15146 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
15147 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
15148 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
15151 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
15152 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
15154 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
15155 @cindex ding mailing list
15156 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
15157 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
15160 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
15161 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
15163 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
15164 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
15165 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
15166 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
15169 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
15170 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
15171 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
15172 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
15173 and general method of operations.
15176 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
15177 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
15178 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
15179 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
15180 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
15181 * Group Info:: The group info format.
15182 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
15183 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
15187 @node Gnus Utility Functions
15188 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
15189 @cindex Gnus utility functions
15190 @cindex utility functions
15192 @cindex internal variables
15194 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
15195 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
15196 Below is a list of the most common ones.
15200 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
15201 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
15202 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
15204 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
15205 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
15206 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
15208 @item gnus-group-real-name
15209 @findex gnus-group-real-name
15210 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
15213 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
15214 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
15215 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
15216 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
15218 @item gnus-get-info
15219 @findex gnus-get-info
15220 Return the group info list for @var{group}.
15222 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
15223 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
15224 Add the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
15227 @item gnus-continuum-version
15228 @findex gnus-continuum-version
15229 Take a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
15230 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
15233 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
15234 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
15235 Say whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
15237 @item gnus-news-group-p
15238 @findex gnus-news-group-p
15239 Say whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
15241 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
15242 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
15243 Say whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
15245 @item gnus-server-to-method
15246 @findex gnus-server-to-method
15247 Return the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
15249 @item gnus-server-equal
15250 @findex gnus-server-equal
15251 Say whether two virtual servers are equal.
15253 @item gnus-group-native-p
15254 @findex gnus-group-native-p
15255 Say whether @var{group} is native or not.
15257 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
15258 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
15259 Say whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
15261 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
15262 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
15263 Say whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
15265 @item group-group-find-parameter
15266 @findex group-group-find-parameter
15267 Return the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
15268 return the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
15270 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
15271 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
15272 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
15274 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
15275 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
15276 Narrow the current buffer to the body of the article.
15278 @item gnus-check-backend-function
15279 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
15280 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
15281 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
15284 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
15288 @item gnus-read-method
15289 @findex gnus-read-method
15290 Prompt the user for a select method.
15295 @node Backend Interface
15296 @subsection Backend Interface
15298 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
15299 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
15300 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
15301 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
15302 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
15303 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
15305 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
15306 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
15307 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
15308 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
15309 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
15310 been opened, the function should fail.
15312 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
15313 name. Take this example:
15317 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
15318 (nntp-port-number 4324))
15321 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
15322 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
15324 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
15325 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
15326 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
15328 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
15329 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
15330 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
15332 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
15333 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
15334 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
15335 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
15336 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
15337 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
15340 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
15341 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
15342 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
15343 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
15346 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
15349 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
15352 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
15353 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
15354 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
15355 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
15356 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
15357 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
15361 @node Required Backend Functions
15362 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
15366 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
15368 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
15369 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
15370 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
15371 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
15373 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
15374 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
15375 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
15376 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
15378 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
15379 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
15380 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
15381 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
15382 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
15383 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
15384 number, do maximum fetches.
15386 Here's an example HEAD:
15389 221 1056 Article retrieved.
15390 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
15391 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
15392 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
15393 Subject: Re: Something very droll
15394 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
15395 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
15397 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
15398 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
15399 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
15403 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
15404 these in the data buffer.
15406 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
15410 head = error / valid-head
15411 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
15412 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
15413 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
15414 header = <text> eol
15417 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
15418 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
15422 nov-buffer = *nov-line
15423 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
15424 field = <text except TAB>
15427 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
15431 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
15433 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
15434 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
15436 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
15437 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
15438 server. In fact, it should do so.
15440 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
15441 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
15444 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
15446 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
15447 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
15450 There should be no data returned.
15453 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
15455 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
15456 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
15457 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
15458 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
15460 There should be no data returned.
15463 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
15465 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
15466 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
15467 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
15468 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
15470 There should be no data returned.
15473 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
15475 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
15477 There should be no data returned.
15480 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
15482 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
15483 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
15484 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
15485 it would be nice if that were possible.
15487 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
15488 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
15489 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
15490 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
15491 its article buffer.
15493 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
15494 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
15495 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
15496 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
15497 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
15498 on successful article retrievement.
15501 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
15503 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
15504 making @var{group} the current group.
15506 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
15509 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
15512 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
15515 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
15516 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
15517 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
15518 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
15519 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
15520 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
15521 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
15522 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
15525 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
15526 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
15527 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
15531 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15533 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
15534 a no-op on most backends.
15536 There should be no data returned.
15539 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
15541 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
15544 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
15547 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
15548 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
15551 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
15552 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
15555 active-file = *active-line
15556 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
15558 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
15561 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
15562 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
15563 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
15566 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
15568 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
15569 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
15570 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
15571 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
15572 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
15573 clear if the posting could not be completed.
15575 There should be no result data from this function.
15580 @node Optional Backend Functions
15581 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
15585 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
15587 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
15588 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
15589 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
15591 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
15592 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
15593 former is in the same format as the data from
15594 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
15595 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
15598 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
15602 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
15604 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
15605 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
15606 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
15607 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
15608 should return the (altered) group info.
15610 There should be no result data from this function.
15613 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
15615 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
15616 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
15617 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
15618 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
15619 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
15620 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
15621 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
15622 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
15624 There should be no result data from this function.
15627 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
15629 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
15630 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
15631 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
15632 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
15633 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
15635 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
15636 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
15637 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
15640 There should be no result data from this function.
15643 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
15645 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
15646 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
15647 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
15648 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
15649 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
15650 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
15651 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
15653 There should be no result data from this function.
15656 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
15658 The result data from this function should be a description of
15662 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
15664 description = <text>
15667 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
15669 The result data from this function should be the description of all
15670 groups available on the server.
15673 description-buffer = *description-line
15677 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
15679 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
15680 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
15681 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
15684 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15686 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
15688 There should be no return data.
15691 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
15693 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
15694 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
15695 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
15696 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
15697 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
15700 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
15703 There should be no result data returned.
15706 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
15709 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
15710 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
15712 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
15713 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
15714 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
15715 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
15716 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
15717 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
15719 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
15720 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
15723 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15724 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15726 There should be no data returned.
15729 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
15731 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
15732 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
15733 this function in short order.
15735 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15736 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15738 There should be no data returned.
15741 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
15743 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
15744 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
15746 There should be no data returned.
15749 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
15751 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
15752 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
15753 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
15755 There should be no data returned.
15758 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
15760 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
15761 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
15763 There should be no data returned.
15768 @node Error Messaging
15769 @subsubsection Error Messaging
15771 @findex nnheader-report
15772 @findex nnheader-get-report
15773 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
15774 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
15775 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
15776 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
15777 there are many of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
15778 This function always returns @code{nil}.
15781 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
15783 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
15786 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
15787 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
15788 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
15789 takes one argument---the server symbol.
15791 Internally, these function access @var{backend}@code{-status-string}, so
15792 the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
15793 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
15796 @node Writing New Backends
15797 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
15799 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
15800 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
15801 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
15802 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
15803 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
15806 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
15807 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
15808 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
15810 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
15811 package called @code{nnoo}.
15813 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
15814 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
15821 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
15822 parameters. For instance:
15825 (nnoo-declare nndir
15829 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
15830 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
15833 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
15834 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
15835 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
15837 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
15838 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
15839 a function in those backends.
15842 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15843 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15844 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15847 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
15848 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
15849 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
15851 @item nnoo-define-basics
15852 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
15856 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15860 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
15861 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
15862 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
15864 @item nnoo-map-functions
15865 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
15866 functions from the parent backends.
15869 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15870 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15871 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
15874 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
15875 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
15876 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
15877 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
15880 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
15881 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
15882 haven't already been defined.
15888 nnmh-request-newgroups)
15892 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
15893 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
15894 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
15899 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
15902 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
15903 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
15907 (require 'nnheader)
15911 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
15913 (nnoo-declare nndir
15916 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15917 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15918 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15920 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
15921 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
15924 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
15925 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
15926 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
15928 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
15929 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
15931 ;;; Interface functions.
15933 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15935 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
15936 (setq nndir-directory
15937 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
15939 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
15940 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
15941 (push `(nndir-current-group
15942 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15944 (push `(nndir-top-directory
15945 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15947 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
15949 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15950 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15951 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15952 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
15953 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
15957 nnmh-status-message
15959 nnmh-request-newgroups))
15965 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15966 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15968 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
15969 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
15970 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
15971 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
15973 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
15974 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
15979 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
15982 The abilities can be:
15986 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
15988 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
15990 This backend supports both mail and news.
15992 This is neither a post or mail backend---it's something completely
15995 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
15996 articles and groups.
15998 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
15999 true for almost all backends.
16000 @item prompt-address
16001 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
16002 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
16003 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
16007 @node Mail-like Backends
16008 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
16010 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
16011 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
16012 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
16013 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
16016 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
16017 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
16018 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
16021 It simply just calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will a few parameters,
16022 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
16025 This function takes four parameters.
16029 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
16032 @item exit-function
16033 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
16035 @item temp-directory
16036 Where the temporary files should be stored.
16039 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
16040 performed for one group only.
16043 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
16044 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
16045 find the article number assigned to this article.
16047 The function also uses the following variables:
16048 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
16049 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
16050 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
16051 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
16055 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
16056 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
16060 @node Score File Syntax
16061 @subsection Score File Syntax
16063 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
16064 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
16065 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
16067 Here's a typical score file:
16071 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
16078 BNF definition of a score file:
16081 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
16082 element = rule / atom
16083 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
16084 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
16085 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
16086 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
16088 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
16089 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
16090 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
16091 date-header = "date"
16092 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
16093 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
16094 score = "nil" / <integer>
16095 date = "nil" / <natural number>
16096 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
16097 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
16098 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
16099 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
16100 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
16101 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
16102 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
16103 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
16104 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
16105 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
16106 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
16107 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
16108 exclude-files / read-only / touched
16109 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
16110 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
16111 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
16112 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
16113 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
16114 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
16115 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
16116 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
16117 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
16118 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
16119 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
16120 eval = "eval" space <form>
16121 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
16124 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
16127 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
16128 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
16129 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
16130 one looong line, then that's ok.
16132 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
16137 @subsection Headers
16139 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
16140 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
16141 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
16142 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
16144 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
16145 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
16146 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
16147 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
16148 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
16149 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
16150 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
16152 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
16153 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
16154 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
16155 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
16156 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
16158 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
16165 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
16166 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
16168 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
16169 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
16170 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
16171 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
16173 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
16177 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
16180 is transformed into
16183 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
16186 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
16187 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
16190 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
16193 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
16194 is slightly tricky:
16197 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
16203 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
16206 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
16212 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
16219 and is equal to the previous range.
16221 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
16222 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
16223 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
16227 range = simple-range / normal-range
16228 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
16229 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
16230 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
16231 number *[ " " contents ]
16234 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
16235 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
16236 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
16237 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
16238 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
16243 @subsection Group Info
16245 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
16246 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
16247 describes the group.
16249 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
16250 second is a more complex one:
16253 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
16255 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
16256 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
16258 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@gnus.org")))
16261 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
16262 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
16263 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
16264 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
16265 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
16266 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
16267 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
16269 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
16270 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
16271 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
16273 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
16276 info = "(" group space level space read
16277 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
16278 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
16279 group = quote <string> quote
16280 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
16282 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
16283 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
16284 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
16285 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
16288 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
16289 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
16292 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
16293 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
16296 @item gnus-info-group
16297 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
16298 @findex gnus-info-group
16299 @findex gnus-info-set-group
16300 Get/set the group name.
16302 @item gnus-info-rank
16303 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
16304 @findex gnus-info-rank
16305 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
16306 Get/set the group rank.
16308 @item gnus-info-level
16309 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
16310 @findex gnus-info-level
16311 @findex gnus-info-set-level
16312 Get/set the group level.
16314 @item gnus-info-score
16315 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
16316 @findex gnus-info-score
16317 @findex gnus-info-set-score
16318 Get/set the group score.
16320 @item gnus-info-read
16321 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
16322 @findex gnus-info-read
16323 @findex gnus-info-set-read
16324 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
16326 @item gnus-info-marks
16327 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
16328 @findex gnus-info-marks
16329 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
16330 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
16332 @item gnus-info-method
16333 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
16334 @findex gnus-info-method
16335 @findex gnus-info-set-method
16336 Get/set the group select method.
16338 @item gnus-info-params
16339 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
16340 @findex gnus-info-params
16341 @findex gnus-info-set-params
16342 Get/set the group parameters.
16345 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
16346 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
16348 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
16349 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
16350 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
16351 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
16354 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
16355 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
16359 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
16360 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
16361 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
16363 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
16364 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
16365 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
16366 Gnus, that's very useful.
16368 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
16369 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
16370 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
16371 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
16372 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
16373 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
16374 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
16375 following function:
16378 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
16382 (,function ,@@args))
16386 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
16387 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
16388 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
16391 In the cases when the XEmacs function interface was obviously
16392 cleaner, I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p}
16393 is an alias for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs
16396 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
16397 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
16398 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
16401 @node Various File Formats
16402 @subsection Various File Formats
16405 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
16406 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
16410 @node Active File Format
16411 @subsubsection Active File Format
16413 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
16414 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
16417 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
16420 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
16421 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
16422 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
16423 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
16424 no.general 1000 900 y
16427 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
16430 active = *group-line
16431 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
16432 group = <non-white-space string>
16434 high-number = <non-negative integer>
16435 low-number = <positive integer>
16436 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
16440 @node Newsgroups File Format
16441 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
16443 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
16444 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
16445 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
16448 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
16449 Here's the definition:
16453 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
16454 group = <non-white-space string>
16456 description = <string>
16460 @node Emacs for Heathens
16461 @section Emacs for Heathens
16463 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
16464 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
16465 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
16466 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
16467 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
16468 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
16469 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
16473 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
16474 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
16479 @subsection Keystrokes
16483 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
16486 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
16489 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
16490 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
16491 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
16492 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
16493 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
16494 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
16496 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
16497 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
16498 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
16499 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
16500 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
16501 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
16502 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
16504 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
16505 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
16506 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
16507 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
16508 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
16509 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
16510 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
16512 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
16513 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
16514 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
16515 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
16516 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
16522 @subsection Emacs Lisp
16524 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
16525 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
16526 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
16527 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
16529 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
16530 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
16531 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
16532 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
16533 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
16534 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
16535 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
16538 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
16539 write the following:
16542 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
16545 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
16546 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
16547 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
16550 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
16551 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
16552 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
16553 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
16554 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
16556 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
16557 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
16558 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
16562 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
16566 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
16569 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
16570 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
16573 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
16576 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
16577 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
16580 @include gnus-faq.texi