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14 Copyright @copyright{} 1995-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
18 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
19 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
20 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
21 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
22 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
24 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
25 modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
26 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
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309 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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324 @dircategory Emacs network features
326 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @title Gnus Manual (DEVELOPMENT VERSION)
337 @ifclear WEBHACKDEVEL
341 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
343 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
351 @top The Gnus Newsreader
355 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
356 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
357 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
360 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
361 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.6
376 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
377 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
379 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
380 being accused of plagiarism:
382 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
383 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
384 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
385 can even read news with it!
387 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
388 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
389 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
390 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
391 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
394 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
395 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.6
397 @heading Other related manuals
399 @item Message manual: Composing messages
400 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
401 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
402 @item EasyPG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
403 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
409 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
410 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
411 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
412 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
413 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
414 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
415 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
416 * Searching:: Mail and News search engines.
417 * Various:: General purpose settings.
418 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
419 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
420 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
421 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
422 * Key Index:: Key Index.
424 Other related manuals
426 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
427 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
428 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
429 * EasyPG:(epa). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
430 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
433 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
437 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
438 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
439 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
440 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
441 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
442 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
443 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
444 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
445 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
446 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
450 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
451 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
452 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
456 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
457 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
458 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
459 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
460 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
461 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
462 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
463 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
464 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
465 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
466 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
467 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
468 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
469 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
470 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
471 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
472 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
473 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
477 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
478 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
479 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
483 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
484 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
485 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
486 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
487 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
491 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
492 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
493 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
494 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
495 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
499 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
500 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
501 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
502 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
503 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
504 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
505 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
506 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
507 * Threading:: How threads are made.
508 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
509 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
510 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
511 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
512 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
513 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
514 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
515 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
516 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
517 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
518 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
519 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
520 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
521 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
522 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
523 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
524 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
525 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
526 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
527 or reselecting the current group.
528 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
529 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
530 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
531 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
533 Summary Buffer Format
535 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
536 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
537 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
538 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
542 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
543 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
545 Reply, Followup and Post
547 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
548 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
549 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
550 * Canceling and Superseding::
554 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
555 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
556 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
557 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
558 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
559 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
563 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
564 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
566 Customizing Threading
568 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
569 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
570 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
571 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
575 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
576 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
577 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
578 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
579 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
580 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
584 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
585 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
586 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
590 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
591 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
592 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
593 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
594 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
595 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
596 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
597 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
598 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys, Gravatars
599 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
600 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
602 Alternative Approaches
604 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
605 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
607 Various Summary Stuff
609 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
610 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
611 * Summary Generation Commands::
612 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
616 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
617 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
618 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
619 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
620 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
624 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
625 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
626 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
627 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
628 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
629 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
630 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
631 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
632 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
636 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
637 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
638 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
642 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
643 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
669 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
670 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
671 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
672 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
673 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
674 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
675 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
676 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
677 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
678 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
679 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
680 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
681 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
685 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
686 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
687 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
689 Choosing a Mail Back End
691 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
692 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
693 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
694 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
695 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
696 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
697 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
702 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
703 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
704 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
708 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
709 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
710 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
711 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
712 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
716 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
720 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
724 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
725 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
726 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
730 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
731 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
732 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
734 The Gnus Diary Library
736 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
737 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
738 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
739 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
743 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
744 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
745 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
746 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
747 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
748 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
749 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
750 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
751 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
752 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
753 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
754 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
755 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
756 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
760 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
761 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
762 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
766 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
767 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
768 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
772 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
773 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
774 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
775 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
776 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
777 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
778 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
779 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
780 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
781 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
782 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
783 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
784 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
785 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
786 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
787 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
791 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
792 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
793 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
797 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
798 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
802 * What is nnir?:: What does nnir do.
803 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
804 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up nnir.
808 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
812 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
813 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
814 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
815 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
816 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
817 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
818 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
819 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
820 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
821 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
822 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
823 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
824 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
825 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
826 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
827 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
828 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
829 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
830 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
834 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
835 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
836 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
837 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
838 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
839 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
840 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
841 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
845 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
846 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
847 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
849 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
850 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
851 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
855 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
856 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
857 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
858 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
862 * Spam Package Introduction::
863 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
864 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
865 * Spam and Ham Processors::
866 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
868 * Extending the Spam package::
869 * Spam Statistics Package::
871 Spam Statistics Package
873 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
874 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
875 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
879 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
880 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
881 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
882 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
883 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
884 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
885 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
886 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
887 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
891 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
892 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
893 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
894 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
895 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
896 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
897 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
898 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
902 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
903 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
904 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
905 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
906 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
907 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
908 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13
909 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
913 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
914 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
915 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
916 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
920 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
921 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
922 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
923 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
924 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
925 * Group Info:: The group info format.
926 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
927 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
928 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
932 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
933 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
934 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
935 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
936 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
937 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
941 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
942 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
946 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
947 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
953 @chapter Starting Gnus
956 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
961 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
962 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
963 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
964 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
965 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
966 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
968 @findex gnus-other-frame
969 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
970 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
971 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
973 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
974 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
975 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
977 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
978 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
981 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
982 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
983 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
984 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
985 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
986 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
987 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
988 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
989 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
993 @node Finding the News
994 @section Finding the News
997 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
998 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
999 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
1000 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
1001 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
1002 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
1003 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
1004 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
1006 @vindex gnus-select-method
1008 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1009 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1010 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1011 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1012 secondary or foreign groups.
1014 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1015 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1018 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1021 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1024 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1027 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1028 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1029 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1030 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1032 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1034 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1035 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1036 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1037 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1038 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1039 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1040 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1042 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1044 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1045 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1046 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1047 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1048 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1049 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1051 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1053 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1054 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1055 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1056 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1057 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1058 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1061 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1062 you would typically set this variable to
1065 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1070 @node The Server is Down
1071 @section The Server is Down
1072 @cindex server errors
1074 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1075 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1076 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1078 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1079 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1080 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1081 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1082 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1083 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1084 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1086 @findex gnus-no-server
1087 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1089 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1090 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1091 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1092 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1093 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1094 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1095 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1099 @section Slave Gnusae
1102 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1103 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1104 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1105 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1107 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1108 @file{.newsrc} file.
1110 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1111 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1112 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1113 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1114 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1115 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1116 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1119 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1120 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1121 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1122 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1123 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1124 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1125 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1126 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1128 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1129 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1131 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1132 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1133 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1134 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1135 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1142 @cindex subscription
1144 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1145 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1146 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1147 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1148 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1149 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1150 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1151 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1152 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1155 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1156 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1157 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1161 @node Checking New Groups
1162 @subsection Checking New Groups
1164 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
1165 the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of
1166 subscribed and dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method.
1167 If @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will
1168 ask the server for new groups since the last time. This is both
1169 faster and cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list
1170 of killed groups (@pxref{Group Levels}) altogether, so you may set
1171 @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to @code{nil}, which will save time both
1172 at startup, at exit, and all over. Saves disk space, too. Why isn't
1173 this the default, then? Unfortunately, not all servers support this
1176 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1177 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1178 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1179 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1180 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1181 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1182 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1183 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1184 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1185 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1186 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1188 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1189 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1190 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1191 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1192 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1193 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1196 @node Subscription Methods
1197 @subsection Subscription Methods
1199 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1200 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1201 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1203 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1204 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1206 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1210 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1211 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1212 Make all new groups zombies (@pxref{Group Levels}). This is the
1213 default. You can browse the zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either
1214 kill them all off properly (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them
1217 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1218 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1219 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1220 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1222 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1223 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1224 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1228 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1229 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1230 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1231 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1232 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1233 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1234 up. Or something like that.
1236 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1237 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1238 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1239 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1240 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1242 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1243 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1244 Kill all new groups.
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1248 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1249 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1250 topic parameter that looks like
1256 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1259 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1265 A closely related variable is
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1267 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1268 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1269 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1272 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1273 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1274 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1275 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1278 @node Filtering New Groups
1279 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1281 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1282 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1283 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1286 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1289 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1290 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1291 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1292 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1293 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1294 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1295 subscribing these groups.
1296 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1297 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1299 The ``options -n'' format is very simplistic. The syntax above is all
1300 that is supports -- you can force-subscribe hierarchies, or you can
1301 deny hierarchies, and that's it.
1303 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1304 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1305 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1306 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1307 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1308 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1309 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1310 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1312 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1313 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1314 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1315 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1316 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1317 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1318 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1319 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1320 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, @code{nnimap}, and
1321 @code{nnmaildir}) subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this
1322 variable to @code{nil}.
1324 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-categories
1325 As if that wasn't enough, @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-categories} also
1326 allows you to specify that new groups should be subscribed based on the
1327 category their select methods belong to. The default is @samp{(mail
1328 post-mail)}, meaning that all new groups from mail-like backends
1329 should be subscribed automatically.
1331 New groups that match these variables are subscribed using
1332 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1335 @node Changing Servers
1336 @section Changing Servers
1337 @cindex changing servers
1339 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1340 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1341 very flaky and you want to use another.
1343 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1344 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1348 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1349 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1350 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1351 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1354 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1356 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1357 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1360 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1361 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1362 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1363 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1365 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1366 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1367 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1368 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1369 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1370 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1371 cache for all groups).
1375 @section Startup Files
1376 @cindex startup files
1381 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1382 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1383 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1386 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1387 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1388 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1389 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1390 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1391 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1392 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1394 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1395 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1396 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1397 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1398 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1399 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1402 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1403 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1404 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1405 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1406 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1407 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1408 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1409 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1410 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1411 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1414 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1415 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1416 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1417 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1418 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1419 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1420 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1421 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1422 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1423 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1424 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1425 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1427 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1428 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1429 @vindex version-control
1430 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1431 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1432 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1433 If you want to keep multiple numbered backups of this file, set
1434 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1435 @code{version-control} variable.
1437 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1438 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1439 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1440 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1441 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1442 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1443 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1444 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1445 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1446 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1449 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1450 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1452 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1453 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1456 @vindex gnus-init-file
1457 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1458 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1459 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1460 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1461 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1462 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1463 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1464 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1465 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1466 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1467 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1468 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1469 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1474 @cindex dribble file
1477 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1478 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1479 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1480 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1481 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1484 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1485 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1488 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1489 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1490 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1492 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1493 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1494 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1495 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1496 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1497 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1499 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1500 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1501 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1504 @node The Active File
1505 @section The Active File
1507 @cindex ignored groups
1509 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1510 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1511 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1513 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1514 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1515 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1516 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1517 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1518 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1519 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1522 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1523 @c if you set it to anything else.
1525 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1527 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1528 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1529 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1531 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1532 you actually subscribe to.
1534 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1535 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1536 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1537 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1539 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1540 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1541 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1542 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1543 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1544 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1546 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1547 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1548 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1551 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1552 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1553 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1554 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1555 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1556 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1558 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1559 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1561 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1562 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1564 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1565 secondary select methods.
1568 @node Startup Variables
1569 @section Startup Variables
1573 @item gnus-load-hook
1574 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1575 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1576 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1577 times you start Gnus.
1579 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1580 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1581 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1583 @item gnus-startup-hook
1584 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1585 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1587 @item gnus-started-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1589 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1592 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1593 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1594 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1595 generating the group buffer.
1597 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1598 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1599 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1600 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1601 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1602 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1603 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1604 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1606 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1607 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1608 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1609 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1610 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1611 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1613 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1614 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1615 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1617 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1618 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1619 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1620 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1621 group operation some.
1627 @chapter Group Buffer
1628 @cindex group buffer
1630 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1632 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1633 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1634 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1635 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1636 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1637 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1638 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1639 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1640 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1641 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1642 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1643 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1644 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1645 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1646 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1647 @c human rights at 9...
1650 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1651 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1652 long as Gnus is active.
1656 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1657 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1658 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1659 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1660 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1661 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1662 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1663 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1669 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1670 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1671 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1672 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1673 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1674 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1675 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1676 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1677 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1678 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1679 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1680 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1681 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1682 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1683 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1684 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1685 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1686 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1690 @node Group Buffer Format
1691 @section Group Buffer Format
1694 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1695 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1696 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1699 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1700 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1703 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1704 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1705 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1706 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1709 @node Group Line Specification
1710 @subsection Group Line Specification
1711 @cindex group buffer format
1713 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1714 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1716 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1719 25: news.announce.newusers
1720 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1725 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1726 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1727 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1728 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1730 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1731 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1732 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1733 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1734 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1735 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1737 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1739 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1740 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1741 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1742 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1743 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1745 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1746 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1747 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1749 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1754 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1757 Whether the group is subscribed.
1760 Level of subscribedness.
1763 Number of unread articles.
1766 Number of dormant articles.
1769 Number of ticked articles.
1772 Number of read articles.
1775 Number of unseen articles.
1778 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1779 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1781 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1782 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1783 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1784 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1785 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1786 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1787 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1789 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1790 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1791 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1792 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1793 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1794 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1795 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1798 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1801 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1810 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1811 comment element in the group parameters.
1814 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1815 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1816 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1820 @samp{m} if moderated.
1823 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1829 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1835 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1839 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1842 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1843 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1844 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1845 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1846 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1849 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1851 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1855 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1858 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1862 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1863 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1864 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1865 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1868 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1869 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1870 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1871 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1872 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1873 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1878 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1879 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1880 group, or a bogus native group.
1883 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1884 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1885 @cindex group mode line
1887 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1888 The mode line can be changed by setting
1889 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1890 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1894 The native news server.
1896 The native select method.
1900 @node Group Highlighting
1901 @subsection Group Highlighting
1902 @cindex highlighting
1903 @cindex group highlighting
1905 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1906 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1907 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1908 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1909 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1911 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1915 (cond (window-system
1916 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1917 (defface my-group-face-1
1918 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1919 (defface my-group-face-2
1920 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1921 "Second group face")
1922 (defface my-group-face-3
1923 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-4
1925 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1926 (defface my-group-face-5
1927 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1929 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1930 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1931 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1932 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1933 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1934 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1937 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1939 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1946 The number of unread articles in the group.
1950 Whether the group is a mail group.
1952 The level of the group.
1954 The score of the group.
1956 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1958 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1959 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1961 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1962 topic being inserted.
1965 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1966 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1967 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1969 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1970 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1971 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1972 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
1975 @node Group Maneuvering
1976 @section Group Maneuvering
1977 @cindex group movement
1979 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1980 expected, hopefully.
1986 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1987 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1995 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1996 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2001 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2005 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2006 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2011 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2012 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2021 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2027 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2028 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2029 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2034 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2035 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2036 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2040 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2041 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2042 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2045 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2046 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2047 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2048 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2051 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2052 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2053 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2054 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2057 @node Selecting a Group
2058 @section Selecting a Group
2059 @cindex group selection
2064 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2065 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2066 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2067 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2068 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2069 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2070 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2071 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2072 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2073 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2075 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2076 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2077 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2079 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2080 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2085 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2086 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2087 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2088 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2089 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2093 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2094 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2095 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2096 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2097 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2098 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2099 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2100 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2101 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2102 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2105 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2106 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2107 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2108 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2109 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2112 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2113 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2114 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2115 doing any processing of its contents
2116 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2117 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2118 manner will have no permanent effects.
2122 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2123 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2124 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2125 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2126 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2127 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2128 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2129 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2130 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2131 most recently will be fetched.
2133 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2134 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2135 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2138 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2139 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2140 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2141 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2142 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2143 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2144 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2145 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2146 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2147 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2148 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2149 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2150 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2151 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2152 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2153 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2154 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2156 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2157 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2158 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2159 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2160 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2161 Which article this is controlled by the
2162 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2168 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2171 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2174 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2176 @item unseen-or-unread
2177 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2178 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2182 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2186 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2187 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2189 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2190 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2191 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2192 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2196 @node Subscription Commands
2197 @section Subscription Commands
2198 @cindex subscription
2200 The following commands allow for managing your subscriptions in the
2201 Group buffer. If you want to subscribe to many groups, it's probably
2202 more convenient to go to the @ref{Server Buffer}, and choose the
2203 server there using @kbd{RET} or @kbd{SPC}. Then you'll have the
2204 commands listed in @ref{Browse Foreign Server} at hand.
2212 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2213 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2214 Toggle subscription to the current group
2215 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2221 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2222 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2223 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2224 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2230 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2231 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2232 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2238 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2239 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2242 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2243 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2244 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2245 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2246 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2252 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2253 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2258 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2261 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2263 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2264 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2265 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2266 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2267 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2268 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2269 @file{.newsrc} file.
2273 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2283 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2284 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2285 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2286 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2287 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2288 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2293 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2294 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2295 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2299 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2300 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2301 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2303 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2304 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2305 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2306 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2307 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2308 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2315 @section Group Levels
2319 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2320 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2321 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2322 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2323 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2325 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2331 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2332 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2333 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2334 prompted for a level.
2337 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2338 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2339 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2340 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2341 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2342 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2343 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2344 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2345 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2346 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2347 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2348 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2349 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2350 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2351 reasons of efficiency.
2353 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2354 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2356 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2357 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2358 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2359 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2360 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2361 groups are hidden, in a way.
2363 @cindex zombie groups
2364 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2365 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2366 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2367 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2368 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2369 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2371 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2372 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2373 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2374 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2375 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2376 list of killed groups.)
2378 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2379 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2380 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2382 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2383 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2384 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2385 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2386 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2387 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2388 relevant valid ranges.
2390 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2391 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2392 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2393 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2394 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2395 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2398 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2399 one with the best level.
2401 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2402 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2403 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2405 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2406 be called and the result will be used as value.
2409 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2410 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2411 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2412 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2415 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2416 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2417 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2418 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2420 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2421 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2422 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2423 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2424 to 5. The default is 6.
2428 @section Group Score
2433 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2434 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2435 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2438 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2439 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2440 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2441 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2442 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2443 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2444 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2445 least significant part.))
2447 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2448 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2449 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2450 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2451 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2452 action after each summary exit, you can add
2453 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2454 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2455 slow things down somewhat.
2458 @node Marking Groups
2459 @section Marking Groups
2460 @cindex marking groups
2462 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2463 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2464 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2465 bidding on those groups.
2467 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2468 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2469 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2477 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2478 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2485 Remove the mark from the current group
2486 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2491 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2496 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2501 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2505 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2506 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2507 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2510 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2512 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2513 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2514 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2515 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2516 the command to be executed.
2519 @node Foreign Groups
2520 @section Foreign Groups
2521 @cindex foreign groups
2523 If you recall how to subscribe to servers (@pxref{Finding the News})
2524 you will remember that @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} and
2525 @code{gnus-select-method} let you write a definition in Emacs Lisp of
2526 what servers you want to see when you start up. The alternate
2527 approach is to use foreign servers and groups. ``Foreign'' here means
2528 they are not coming from the select methods. All foreign server
2529 configuration and subscriptions are stored only in the
2530 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file.
2532 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2533 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2534 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2535 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2538 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2539 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2540 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2546 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2547 @cindex making groups
2548 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2549 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2550 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2554 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2555 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2556 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2560 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2561 @cindex renaming groups
2562 Rename the current group to something else
2563 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2564 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2570 @findex gnus-group-customize
2571 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2575 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2576 @cindex renaming groups
2577 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2578 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2583 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2584 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2588 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2589 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2590 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2594 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2596 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2597 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2603 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2607 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2609 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2610 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2611 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2615 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2616 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2618 Make a group based on some file or other
2619 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2620 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2621 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2622 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2623 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2624 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2625 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2626 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2627 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2631 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2632 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2633 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2634 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2638 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2642 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2643 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2644 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2645 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2646 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2647 @xref{Web Searches}.
2649 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2650 to a particular group by using a match string like
2651 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2655 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2656 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2657 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2661 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2662 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2663 This function will delete the current group
2664 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2665 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2666 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2667 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2668 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2672 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2673 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2674 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2678 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2679 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2680 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2683 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2686 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2687 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2688 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2689 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2690 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2691 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2695 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2696 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2699 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2700 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2701 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2702 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2703 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2704 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2707 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2708 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2709 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2710 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2711 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2712 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2713 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2714 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2715 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2716 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2718 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2719 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2720 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2721 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2722 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2724 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2725 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2726 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2727 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2730 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2738 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2739 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2740 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2744 @node Group Parameters
2745 @section Group Parameters
2746 @cindex group parameters
2748 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2750 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2751 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2752 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2753 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2754 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2755 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2756 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2758 Here's an example group parameter list:
2761 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2765 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2766 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2767 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2768 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2770 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2771 is an alist of regexps and values.
2773 The following group parameters can be used:
2778 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2781 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2784 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2785 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2786 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2787 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2788 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2790 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2791 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2792 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2793 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2794 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2795 list address instead.
2797 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2801 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2804 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2807 It is totally ignored
2808 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2809 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2811 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2812 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2813 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2814 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2815 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2817 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2818 @cindex mail list groups
2819 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2820 entering summary buffer.
2822 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2827 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2828 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2829 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2830 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2831 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2832 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2833 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2834 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2837 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2838 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2841 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2842 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2846 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2847 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2848 of whether it has any unread articles.
2850 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2851 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2853 @item broken-reply-to
2854 @cindex broken-reply-to
2855 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2856 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2857 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2858 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2859 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2860 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2864 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2865 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2869 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2870 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2871 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2876 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2877 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2878 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2879 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2880 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2881 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2882 (@pxref{Archived Messages}), with the exception for messages to resend.
2884 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2885 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2886 doesn't accept articles.
2890 @cindex expiring mail
2891 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2892 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2893 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2895 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2898 @cindex total-expire
2899 @cindex expiring mail
2900 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2901 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2902 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2903 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2906 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2910 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2911 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2912 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2913 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2914 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2915 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2916 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2919 @cindex expiry-target
2920 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2921 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2924 @cindex score file group parameter
2925 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2926 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2927 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2930 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2931 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2932 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2933 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2936 @cindex admin-address
2937 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2938 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2939 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2940 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2944 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2945 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2949 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2952 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2953 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2956 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2960 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2962 Here are some examples:
2966 Display only unread articles.
2969 Display everything except expirable articles.
2971 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2972 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2976 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2977 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2978 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2979 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2980 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, and @code{unseen}.
2984 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2985 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2986 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2990 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2991 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2992 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2996 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2997 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2998 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3000 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3002 @item ignored-charsets
3003 @cindex ignored-charset
3004 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3005 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3006 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3008 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3011 @cindex posting-style
3012 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3013 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3014 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3015 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3016 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3018 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3019 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3020 like this in the group parameters:
3025 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
3026 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3027 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3030 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3031 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3032 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3033 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3034 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3035 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3041 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3042 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3046 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3047 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3048 mail source for this group.
3052 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3053 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3054 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3055 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3056 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3060 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3061 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3062 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3063 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3065 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3066 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3067 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3068 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3071 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3072 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3076 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3077 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3078 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3079 like the following is generated:
3082 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3083 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3087 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3088 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3090 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3091 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3093 @item (agent parameters)
3094 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of its parameters to
3095 control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3096 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3097 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3098 minimize the configuration effort.
3100 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3101 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3102 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3103 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3104 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3105 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3106 @code{eval}ed there.
3108 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3109 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3110 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3111 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3112 form needs to be set to it.
3114 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3115 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3116 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3117 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3118 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3119 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3120 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3123 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3126 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3127 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3128 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3131 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3134 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3135 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3136 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3137 into the group parameters for the group.
3139 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3140 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3141 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3142 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3143 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3145 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3146 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3147 following is added to a group parameter
3150 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3151 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3154 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3159 @vindex gnus-parameters
3160 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3161 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3162 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3166 (setq gnus-parameters
3168 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3169 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3170 (gnus-summary-line-format
3171 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3175 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3179 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3183 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3186 All clauses that matches the group name will be used, but the last
3187 setting ``wins''. So if you have two clauses that both match the
3188 group name, and both set, say @code{display}, the last setting will
3191 Parameters that are strings will be subjected to regexp substitution,
3192 as the @code{to-group} example shows.
3194 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3195 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3196 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3197 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3198 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3199 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3200 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3201 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3202 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3203 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3204 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3205 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3207 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3208 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3209 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3210 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3211 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3212 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3213 weekly news RSS feed
3214 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3220 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3221 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3222 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3223 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3224 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3226 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3227 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3228 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3229 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3230 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3231 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3235 @node Listing Groups
3236 @section Listing Groups
3237 @cindex group listing
3239 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3247 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3248 List all groups that have unread articles
3249 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3250 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3251 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3252 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3259 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3260 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3261 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3262 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3263 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3264 unsubscribed groups).
3268 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3269 List all unread groups on a specific level
3270 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3271 with no unread articles.
3275 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3276 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3277 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3278 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3283 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3284 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3288 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3289 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3290 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3294 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3295 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3299 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3300 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3301 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3302 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3303 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3304 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3305 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3306 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3310 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3311 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3312 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3316 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3317 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3318 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3322 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3323 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3327 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3328 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3332 @findex gnus-group-list-ticked
3333 List all groups with ticked articles (@code{gnus-group-list-ticked}).
3337 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3338 Further limit groups within the current selection
3339 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}). If you've first limited to groups
3340 with dormant articles with @kbd{A ?}, you can then further limit with
3341 @kbd{A / c}, which will then limit to groups with cached articles,
3342 giving you the groups that have both dormant articles and cached
3347 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3348 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3352 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3353 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3357 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3358 @cindex visible group parameter
3359 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3360 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3361 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3362 get the same effect.
3364 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3365 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3366 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3367 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3368 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3371 @node Sorting Groups
3372 @section Sorting Groups
3373 @cindex sorting groups
3375 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3376 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3377 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3378 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3379 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3380 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3385 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3386 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3387 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3389 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3390 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3391 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3393 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3394 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3395 Sort by group level.
3397 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3398 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3399 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3401 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3402 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3403 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3404 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3406 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3408 Sort by number of unread articles.
3410 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3411 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3412 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3414 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3415 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3416 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3421 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3422 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3426 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3427 some sorting criteria:
3431 @kindex G S a (Group)
3432 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3433 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3434 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3437 @kindex G S u (Group)
3438 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3439 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3440 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3443 @kindex G S l (Group)
3444 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3445 Sort the group buffer by group level
3446 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3449 @kindex G S v (Group)
3450 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3451 Sort the group buffer by group score
3452 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3455 @kindex G S r (Group)
3456 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3457 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3458 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3461 @kindex G S m (Group)
3462 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3463 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3464 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3467 @kindex G S n (Group)
3468 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3469 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3470 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3474 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3475 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3477 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3478 commands will sort in reverse order.
3480 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3484 @kindex G P a (Group)
3485 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3486 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3487 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3490 @kindex G P u (Group)
3491 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3492 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3493 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3496 @kindex G P l (Group)
3497 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3498 Sort the groups by group level
3499 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3502 @kindex G P v (Group)
3503 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3504 Sort the groups by group score
3505 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3508 @kindex G P r (Group)
3509 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3510 Sort the groups by group rank
3511 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3514 @kindex G P m (Group)
3515 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3516 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3517 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3520 @kindex G P n (Group)
3521 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3522 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3523 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3526 @kindex G P s (Group)
3527 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3528 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3532 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3536 @node Group Maintenance
3537 @section Group Maintenance
3538 @cindex bogus groups
3543 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3544 Find bogus groups and delete them
3545 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3549 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3550 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3551 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3552 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3553 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3557 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3558 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3559 @cindex expiring mail
3560 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3561 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3562 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3563 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3566 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3567 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3568 @cindex expiring mail
3569 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3570 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3575 @node Browse Foreign Server
3576 @section Browse Foreign Server
3577 @cindex foreign servers
3578 @cindex browsing servers
3583 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3584 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3585 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3586 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3589 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3590 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3591 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3592 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3594 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3599 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3600 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3604 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3605 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3608 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3609 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3610 Enter the current group and display the first article
3611 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3614 @kindex RET (Browse)
3615 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3616 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3620 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3621 @vindex gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method
3622 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3623 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}). You
3624 can affect the way the new group is entered into the Group buffer
3625 using the variable @code{gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method}. See
3626 @pxref{Subscription Methods} for available options.
3632 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3633 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3637 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3638 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3642 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3643 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3644 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3649 @section Exiting Gnus
3650 @cindex exiting Gnus
3652 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3657 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3658 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3659 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3660 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3664 @findex gnus-group-exit
3665 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3666 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3670 @findex gnus-group-quit
3671 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3672 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3675 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3676 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3677 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3678 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3679 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3680 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3686 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3687 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3688 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3694 @section Group Topics
3697 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3698 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3699 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3700 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3701 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3702 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3706 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3707 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3718 2: alt.religion.emacs
3721 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3723 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3724 13: comp.sources.unix
3727 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3729 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3730 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3731 is a toggling command.)
3733 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3734 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3735 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3736 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3739 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3740 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3741 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3744 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3748 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3749 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3750 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3751 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3752 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3756 @node Topic Commands
3757 @subsection Topic Commands
3758 @cindex topic commands
3760 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3761 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3762 definitions slightly.
3764 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3765 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3766 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3767 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3768 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3769 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3771 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3778 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3779 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3780 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3784 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3786 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3787 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3788 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3789 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3792 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3794 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3795 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3799 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3800 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3801 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3802 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3808 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3809 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3810 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3814 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3815 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3816 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3819 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3820 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3821 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3822 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3823 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3825 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3826 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3830 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3831 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3838 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3840 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3841 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3842 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3843 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3844 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3845 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3849 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3855 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3856 Move the current group to some other topic
3857 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3858 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3862 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3863 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3867 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3868 Copy the current group to some other topic
3869 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3870 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3874 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3875 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3876 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3880 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3881 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3882 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3886 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3887 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3888 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3889 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3890 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3891 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3892 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3895 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3896 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3900 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3901 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3902 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3906 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3907 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3908 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3912 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3913 Toggle hiding empty topics
3914 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3918 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3919 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3920 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3921 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3924 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3925 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3926 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3927 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3928 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3931 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3932 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3933 @cindex expiring mail
3934 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3935 expiry process (if any)
3936 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3940 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3941 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3944 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3945 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3946 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3950 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3951 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3952 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3955 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3956 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3957 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3960 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3961 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3962 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3966 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3967 @cindex group parameters
3968 @cindex topic parameters
3970 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3971 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3976 @node Topic Variables
3977 @subsection Topic Variables
3978 @cindex topic variables
3980 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3981 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3983 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3984 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3985 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3998 Number of groups in the topic.
4000 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4002 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4005 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4006 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4007 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4010 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4011 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4013 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4014 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4015 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4019 @subsection Topic Sorting
4020 @cindex topic sorting
4022 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4028 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4029 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4030 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4031 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4034 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4035 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4036 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4037 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4040 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4041 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4042 Sort the current topic by group level
4043 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4046 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4047 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4048 Sort the current topic by group score
4049 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4052 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4053 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4054 Sort the current topic by group rank
4055 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4058 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4059 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4060 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4061 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4064 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4065 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4066 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4067 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4070 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4071 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4072 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4073 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4074 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4078 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4079 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4083 @node Topic Topology
4084 @subsection Topic Topology
4085 @cindex topic topology
4088 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4095 2: alt.religion.emacs
4098 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4100 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4101 13: comp.sources.unix
4105 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4106 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4107 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4112 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4113 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4117 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4118 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4119 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4120 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4121 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4122 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4124 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4125 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4126 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4129 @node Topic Parameters
4130 @subsection Topic Parameters
4131 @cindex topic parameters
4133 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4134 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4135 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4136 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4137 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4139 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4144 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4145 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4146 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4149 @item subscribe-level
4150 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4151 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4152 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4156 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4157 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4158 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4159 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4166 2: alt.religion.emacs
4170 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4172 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4173 13: comp.sources.unix
4178 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4179 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4180 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4181 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4182 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4183 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4185 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4186 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4187 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4188 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4189 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4191 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4192 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4193 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4194 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4195 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4196 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4197 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4198 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4201 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4202 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4203 @cindex non-ascii group names
4205 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4206 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4207 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4208 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4209 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4210 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4211 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4214 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4215 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4216 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4217 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4218 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4219 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4220 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4221 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4224 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4225 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4226 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4227 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4228 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4231 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4232 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4235 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4236 ones specified for the same groups with the
4237 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4239 A select method can be very long, like:
4243 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4244 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4245 (nntp-open-connection-function
4246 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4247 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4248 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4249 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4250 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4253 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4254 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4257 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4258 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4259 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4260 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4261 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4262 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4265 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4266 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4270 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4271 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4274 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4275 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4276 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4277 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4278 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4279 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4281 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4285 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4286 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4287 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4288 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4289 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4290 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4292 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the agent, and
4293 the cache use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and
4294 directories. This variable overrides the value of
4295 @code{file-name-coding-system} which specifies the coding system used
4296 when encoding and decoding those file names and directory names.
4298 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4299 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4300 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4301 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4302 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4303 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4305 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4306 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4307 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4308 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4310 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4311 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4312 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4313 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4315 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4316 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1} for example, although you
4317 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4318 typical case where you have to customize
4319 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8} coding system is
4320 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4321 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4322 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4325 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4326 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4327 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4328 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4331 @node Misc Group Stuff
4332 @section Misc Group Stuff
4335 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4336 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4337 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4338 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4339 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4346 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
4347 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4348 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4351 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
4354 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
4357 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
4358 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
4362 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4363 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4364 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4368 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4369 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4370 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4371 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4372 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4373 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4374 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4378 @findex gnus-group-mail
4379 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4380 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4381 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4382 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4386 @findex gnus-group-news
4387 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4388 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4389 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4391 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4392 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4393 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4394 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4395 for this to work though.
4399 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
4401 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
4402 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
4403 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
4408 Variables for the group buffer:
4412 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4413 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4414 is called after the group buffer has been
4417 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4418 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4419 is called after the group buffer is
4420 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4423 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4424 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4425 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4426 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4428 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4429 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4430 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4431 whether they are empty or not.
4435 @node Scanning New Messages
4436 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4437 @cindex new messages
4438 @cindex scanning new news
4444 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4445 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4446 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4447 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4448 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4449 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4454 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4455 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4456 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4457 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4458 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4459 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4460 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4462 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4463 @cindex activating groups
4465 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4466 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4471 @findex gnus-group-restart
4472 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4473 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4474 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4478 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4479 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4481 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4482 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4486 @node Group Information
4487 @subsection Group Information
4488 @cindex group information
4489 @cindex information on groups
4496 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4498 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4499 @cindex describing groups
4500 @cindex group description
4501 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4502 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4503 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4507 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4508 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4509 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4516 @findex gnus-version
4517 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4521 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4522 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4525 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4528 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4529 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4533 @node Group Timestamp
4534 @subsection Group Timestamp
4536 @cindex group timestamps
4538 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4539 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4540 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4543 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4546 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4548 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4549 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4552 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4553 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4556 This will result in lines looking like:
4559 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4560 0: custom 19961002T012713
4563 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4564 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4568 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4569 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4572 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4573 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4577 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4578 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4579 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4580 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4582 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4588 @subsection File Commands
4589 @cindex file commands
4595 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4596 @vindex gnus-init-file
4597 @cindex reading init file
4598 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4599 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4603 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4604 @cindex saving .newsrc
4605 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4606 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4607 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4610 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4611 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4612 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4617 @node Sieve Commands
4618 @subsection Sieve Commands
4619 @cindex group sieve commands
4621 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4622 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4623 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4624 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4625 script that can be transferred to the server somehow.
4627 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4628 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4629 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4630 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4631 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4632 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4633 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4634 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4635 regenerate the Sieve script.
4637 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4638 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4639 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4640 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4641 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4642 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4643 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4644 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4645 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4646 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4649 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4650 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4655 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4661 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4662 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4663 @cindex generating sieve script
4664 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4665 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4669 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4670 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4671 @cindex updating sieve script
4672 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4673 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4674 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4679 @node Summary Buffer
4680 @chapter Summary Buffer
4681 @cindex summary buffer
4683 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4684 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4686 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4687 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4689 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4691 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
4692 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
4696 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
4697 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4698 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4700 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
4704 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4705 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4706 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4707 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4708 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4709 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4710 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4711 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4712 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4713 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4714 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4715 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4716 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4717 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
4718 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4719 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4720 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4721 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4722 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4723 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4724 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4725 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4726 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4727 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4728 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4729 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4730 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4731 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4732 or reselecting the current group.
4733 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4734 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4735 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4736 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4740 @node Summary Buffer Format
4741 @section Summary Buffer Format
4742 @cindex summary buffer format
4746 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4747 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4748 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4754 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4755 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4756 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4757 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4760 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4761 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4762 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4763 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4764 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4765 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4766 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4767 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4768 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4769 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4770 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4773 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4774 'mail-extract-address-components)
4777 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4778 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4779 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4780 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4783 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4784 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4786 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4787 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4788 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4789 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4790 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4792 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4793 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4794 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4795 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4796 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4797 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4799 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4801 The following format specification characters and extended format
4802 specification(s) are understood:
4808 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4809 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4811 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4812 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4813 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4815 Full @code{From} header.
4817 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4819 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4822 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4823 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4824 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4825 may be more thorough.
4827 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4830 Number of lines in the article.
4832 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4833 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4835 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4836 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4838 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4840 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4841 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4854 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4855 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4856 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4857 line-drawing glyphs.
4859 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4860 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4861 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4862 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4864 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4865 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4866 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4867 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4869 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4870 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4871 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4872 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4874 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4875 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4876 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4878 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4879 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4880 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4882 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4883 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4884 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4886 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4887 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4888 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4893 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4894 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4896 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4897 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4899 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4900 for adopted articles.
4902 One space for each thread level.
4904 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4906 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4909 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4910 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4911 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4914 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4916 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4917 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4918 default level. If the difference between
4919 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4920 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4928 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4930 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4936 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4937 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4939 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4940 article has any children.
4946 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
4948 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4949 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4951 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4952 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4953 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4954 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4955 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4956 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4959 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4960 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4961 There can only be one such area.
4963 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4964 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4965 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4966 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4967 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4968 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4970 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4971 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4973 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4976 @node To From Newsgroups
4977 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4981 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4982 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4983 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4984 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4985 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4989 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4990 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4991 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4995 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4996 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4999 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5000 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5003 @findex gnus-extra-header
5004 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5005 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5006 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5009 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5013 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5014 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5015 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5016 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5017 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5018 headers are used instead.
5020 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5021 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5022 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5023 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5024 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5025 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5029 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5030 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5031 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5032 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5033 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5034 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5037 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5038 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5039 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5040 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5042 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5046 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5048 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5049 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5050 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5051 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5055 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5058 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5059 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5062 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5063 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5064 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5070 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5071 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5074 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5075 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5077 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5078 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5079 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5080 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5082 Here are the elements you can play with:
5088 Unprefixed group name.
5090 Current article number.
5092 Current article score.
5096 Number of unread articles in this group.
5098 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5101 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5102 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5103 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5104 and no unselected ones.
5106 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5107 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5109 Subject of the current article.
5111 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5113 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5115 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5117 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5119 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5121 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5125 @node Summary Highlighting
5126 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5130 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5131 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5132 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5133 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5134 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5136 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5137 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5138 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5139 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5141 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5142 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5143 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5144 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5146 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5147 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5148 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5149 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5150 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5151 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5154 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5155 ((> score default) . bold))
5157 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5158 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5162 @node Summary Maneuvering
5163 @section Summary Maneuvering
5164 @cindex summary movement
5166 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5167 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5169 None of these commands select articles.
5174 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5175 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5177 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5178 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5182 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5183 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5185 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5186 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5189 @kindex G g (Summary)
5190 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5191 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5192 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5195 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5196 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5197 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5198 to the group buffer.
5200 Variables related to summary movement:
5204 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5205 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5206 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5207 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5208 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5209 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5210 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5211 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5212 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5213 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5214 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5215 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5216 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5217 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5219 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5220 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5221 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5222 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5223 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5224 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5225 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5227 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5229 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5230 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5231 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5232 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5233 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5235 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5236 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5237 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5238 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5239 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5240 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5241 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5242 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5245 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5246 the given number of lines from the top.
5248 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5249 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5250 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
5251 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
5256 @node Choosing Articles
5257 @section Choosing Articles
5258 @cindex selecting articles
5261 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5262 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5266 @node Choosing Commands
5267 @subsection Choosing Commands
5269 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5270 and they all select and display an article.
5272 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5273 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5277 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5279 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5280 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5282 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5283 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5284 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5289 @kindex G n (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5291 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5292 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5297 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5298 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5299 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5304 @kindex G N (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5306 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5311 @kindex G P (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5313 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5316 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5318 Go to the next article with the same subject
5319 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5322 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5324 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5325 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5329 @kindex G f (Summary)
5331 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5332 Go to the first unread article
5333 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5337 @kindex G b (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5340 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5341 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5342 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5347 @kindex G l (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5349 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5352 @kindex G o (Summary)
5353 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5355 @cindex article history
5356 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5357 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5358 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5359 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5360 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5361 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5366 @kindex G j (Summary)
5367 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5368 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5369 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5374 @node Choosing Variables
5375 @subsection Choosing Variables
5377 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5380 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5381 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5382 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5383 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5384 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5385 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5387 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5388 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5389 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
5390 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
5391 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
5394 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5395 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5396 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5397 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5398 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5399 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5400 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5401 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5402 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
5403 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5404 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5405 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5406 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5407 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5412 @node Paging the Article
5413 @section Scrolling the Article
5414 @cindex article scrolling
5419 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5420 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5421 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5422 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5423 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5425 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5426 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5427 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5428 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5429 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5430 what is considered uninteresting with
5431 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5432 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5435 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5436 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5437 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5440 @kindex RET (Summary)
5441 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5442 Scroll the current article one line forward
5443 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5446 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5447 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5448 Scroll the current article one line backward
5449 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5453 @kindex A g (Summary)
5455 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5456 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5457 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5458 given a prefix, show a completely ``raw'' article, just the way it
5459 came from the server. If given a prefix twice (i.e., @kbd{C-u C-u
5460 g'}), fetch the current article, but don't run any of the article
5461 treatment functions.
5463 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
5464 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5465 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5466 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5469 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5474 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5479 @kindex A < (Summary)
5480 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5481 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5482 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5487 @kindex A > (Summary)
5488 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5489 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5493 @kindex A s (Summary)
5495 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5496 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5497 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5501 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5502 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5507 @node Reply Followup and Post
5508 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5511 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5512 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5513 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5514 * Canceling and Superseding::
5518 @node Summary Mail Commands
5519 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5521 @cindex composing mail
5523 Commands for composing a mail message:
5529 @kindex S r (Summary)
5531 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5532 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5533 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5534 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5535 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5540 @kindex S R (Summary)
5541 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5542 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5543 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5544 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5545 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5548 @kindex S w (Summary)
5549 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5550 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5551 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5552 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5553 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5554 present, that's used instead.
5557 @kindex S W (Summary)
5558 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5559 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5560 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5561 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
5562 first article to determine the recipients.
5565 @kindex S L (Summary)
5566 @findex gnus-summary-reply-to-list-with-original
5567 When replying to a message from a mailing list, send a reply to that
5568 message to the mailing list, and include the original message
5569 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-to-list-with-original}).
5572 @kindex S v (Summary)
5573 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5574 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5575 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5576 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5577 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5578 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5581 @kindex S V (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5583 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5584 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5585 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5588 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5589 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5590 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5591 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5592 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5593 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5594 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5595 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5598 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5599 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5600 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5601 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5602 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5606 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5607 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5608 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5609 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5610 Forward the current article to some other person
5611 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5612 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5613 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5614 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5615 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5616 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5617 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5618 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5619 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5625 @kindex S m (Summary)
5626 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5627 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5628 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5629 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5630 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5633 @kindex S i (Summary)
5634 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5635 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5636 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5637 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5639 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5640 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5641 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5642 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5643 for this to work though.
5646 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5647 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5648 @cindex bouncing mail
5649 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5650 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5651 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5652 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5653 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5654 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5655 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5656 very well fail, though.
5659 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5661 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5662 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5663 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5664 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5665 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5666 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5667 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5668 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5670 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5671 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5672 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5673 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5674 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5676 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5677 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5680 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5681 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5683 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5684 if it were a new message before resending.
5687 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5688 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5689 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5690 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5691 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5694 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5695 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5696 @cindex crossposting
5697 @cindex excessive crossposting
5698 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5699 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5701 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5702 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5703 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5704 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5705 command understands the process/prefix convention
5706 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5710 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5711 Manual}, for more information.
5714 @node Summary Post Commands
5715 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5717 @cindex composing news
5719 Commands for posting a news article:
5725 @kindex S p (Summary)
5726 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5727 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5728 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5729 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5730 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5735 @kindex S f (Summary)
5736 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5737 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5738 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5742 @kindex S F (Summary)
5744 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5745 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5746 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5747 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5748 process/prefix convention.
5751 @kindex S n (Summary)
5752 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5753 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5754 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5757 @kindex S N (Summary)
5758 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5759 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5760 message through mail and include the original message
5761 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5762 the process/prefix convention.
5765 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5766 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5767 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5768 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5769 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5770 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5771 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5772 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5773 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5774 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5775 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5776 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5777 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5780 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5781 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5783 @cindex making digests
5784 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5785 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5786 process/prefix convention.
5789 @kindex S u (Summary)
5790 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5791 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5792 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5793 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5796 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5797 Manual}, for more information.
5800 @node Summary Message Commands
5801 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5805 @kindex S y (Summary)
5806 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5807 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5808 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5809 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5810 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5815 @node Canceling and Superseding
5816 @subsection Canceling Articles
5817 @cindex canceling articles
5818 @cindex superseding articles
5820 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5821 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5823 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5825 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5827 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5828 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5829 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5830 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5831 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5832 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5834 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5835 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5838 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5839 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5840 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5842 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5843 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5844 message, Message Manual}).
5846 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5847 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5848 your original article.
5850 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5852 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5853 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5854 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5857 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5858 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5859 have posted almost the same article twice.
5861 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5862 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5863 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5864 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5865 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5866 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5867 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5868 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5869 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5870 canceled/superseded.
5872 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5874 @node Delayed Articles
5875 @section Delayed Articles
5876 @cindex delayed sending
5877 @cindex send delayed
5879 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5880 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5881 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5882 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5885 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5888 @findex gnus-delay-article
5889 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5890 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5891 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5892 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5896 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5897 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5898 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5899 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5902 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5903 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5904 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5907 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5908 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5909 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5910 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5911 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5912 that means a time tomorrow.
5915 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5916 couple of variables:
5919 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5920 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5921 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5922 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5924 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5925 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5926 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5927 formats described above.
5929 @item gnus-delay-group
5930 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5931 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5932 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5933 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5935 @item gnus-delay-header
5936 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5937 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5938 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5939 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5942 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5943 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5944 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5945 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5946 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5948 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5949 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5950 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5951 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5952 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5953 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5954 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5957 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5958 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5959 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5960 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5961 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5962 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5963 argument is ignored.
5965 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5966 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5967 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5970 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
5971 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
5972 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
5973 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
5974 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
5977 @node Marking Articles
5978 @section Marking Articles
5979 @cindex article marking
5980 @cindex article ticking
5983 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5985 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5986 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5987 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5989 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5992 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5996 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5997 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5998 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5999 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6000 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6001 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6005 @node Unread Articles
6006 @subsection Unread Articles
6008 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6013 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6014 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6016 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6017 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6018 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6019 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6020 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6021 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6022 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6025 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6026 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6028 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6029 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6030 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6031 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6035 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6036 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6038 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6043 @subsection Read Articles
6044 @cindex expirable mark
6046 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6051 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6052 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6053 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6056 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6057 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6060 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6061 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6062 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6065 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6066 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6069 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6070 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6073 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6074 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6077 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6078 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6081 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6082 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6085 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6086 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6090 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6091 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6092 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6096 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6097 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6099 One more special mark, though:
6103 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6104 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6106 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6107 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6108 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6109 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6115 @subsection Other Marks
6116 @cindex process mark
6119 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6125 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6126 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6127 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6128 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6129 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6132 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6133 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6134 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6135 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6138 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6139 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6140 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6143 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6144 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6145 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6148 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6149 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6150 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6151 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6154 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6155 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6156 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6159 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6160 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6161 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6162 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6163 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6167 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6168 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6169 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6170 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6171 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6172 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6175 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6176 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6177 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6178 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6179 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6180 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6184 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6185 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6186 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6187 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6188 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6191 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6192 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6193 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6194 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6195 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6196 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6200 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6201 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6202 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6204 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6205 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6206 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6210 @subsection Setting Marks
6211 @cindex setting marks
6213 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6218 @kindex M c (Summary)
6219 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6220 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6221 @cindex mark as unread
6222 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6223 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6229 @kindex M t (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6231 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6232 @xref{Article Caching}.
6237 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6239 Mark the current article as dormant
6240 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6244 @kindex M d (Summary)
6246 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6247 Mark the current article as read
6248 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6252 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6253 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6254 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6259 @kindex M k (Summary)
6260 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6261 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6262 and then select the next unread article
6263 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6267 @kindex M K (Summary)
6268 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6270 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6271 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6274 @kindex M C (Summary)
6275 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6276 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6277 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6280 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6281 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6282 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6283 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6286 @kindex M H (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6288 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6289 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6292 @kindex M h (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6294 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6295 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6298 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6300 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6301 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6304 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6306 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6307 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6311 @kindex M e (Summary)
6313 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6314 Mark the current article as expirable
6315 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6318 @kindex M b (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6320 Set a bookmark in the current article
6321 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6324 @kindex M B (Summary)
6325 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6326 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6327 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6330 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6331 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6332 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6333 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6336 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6337 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6338 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6339 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6342 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6344 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6345 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6346 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6349 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6350 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6351 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6352 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6353 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6354 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6355 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6356 The default is @code{t}.
6359 @node Generic Marking Commands
6360 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6362 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6363 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6364 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6365 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6366 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6369 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6370 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6373 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6374 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6375 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6376 to list in this manual.
6378 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6379 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6380 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6381 article, you could say something like:
6385 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6386 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6387 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6395 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6396 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6400 @node Setting Process Marks
6401 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6402 @cindex setting process marks
6404 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6405 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6406 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6407 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6408 articles into the cache. For more information,
6409 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6416 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6417 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6418 Mark the current article with the process mark
6419 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6420 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6424 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6425 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6426 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6427 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6430 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6432 Remove the process mark from all articles
6433 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6436 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6437 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6438 Invert the list of process marked articles
6439 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6442 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6443 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6444 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6445 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6448 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6450 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6451 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6454 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6456 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6459 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6460 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6461 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6464 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6465 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6466 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6467 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6470 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6471 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6472 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6473 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6476 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6477 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6478 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6479 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6482 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6483 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6484 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6487 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6488 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6489 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6490 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6493 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6494 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6495 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6498 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6499 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6500 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6501 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6504 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6505 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6506 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6507 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6510 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6511 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6512 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6513 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6516 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6517 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6518 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6519 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6523 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6524 set process marks based on article body contents.
6531 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6532 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6533 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6536 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
6537 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
6544 @kindex / / (Summary)
6545 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6546 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6547 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6551 @kindex / a (Summary)
6552 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6553 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6554 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6558 @kindex / R (Summary)
6559 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6560 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6561 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6565 @kindex / A (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
6567 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
6568 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
6569 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
6572 @kindex / S (Summary)
6573 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
6574 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
6575 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
6576 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
6579 @kindex / x (Summary)
6580 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6581 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6582 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6583 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6588 @kindex / u (Summary)
6590 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6591 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6592 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6593 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6594 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6597 @kindex / m (Summary)
6598 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6599 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6600 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6603 @kindex / t (Summary)
6604 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6605 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6606 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6607 articles younger than that number of days.
6610 @kindex / n (Summary)
6611 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6612 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
6613 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
6614 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
6617 @kindex / w (Summary)
6618 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6619 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6620 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6624 @kindex / . (Summary)
6625 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6626 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6627 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6630 @kindex / v (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6632 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6633 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6636 @kindex / p (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6638 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6639 group parameter predicate
6640 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6641 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6644 @kindex / r (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6646 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6647 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6652 @kindex M S (Summary)
6653 @kindex / E (Summary)
6654 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6655 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6656 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6659 @kindex / D (Summary)
6660 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6661 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6662 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6665 @kindex / * (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6667 Include all cached articles in the limit
6668 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6671 @kindex / d (Summary)
6672 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6673 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6674 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6677 @kindex / M (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6679 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6682 @kindex / T (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6684 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6687 @kindex / c (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6689 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6690 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6693 @kindex / C (Summary)
6694 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6695 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6696 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6697 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6700 @kindex / b (Summary)
6701 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
6702 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
6703 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
6704 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
6705 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
6708 @kindex / h (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
6710 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
6711 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
6716 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
6721 @kindex / N (Summary)
6722 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6723 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6724 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6727 @kindex / o (Summary)
6728 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6729 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6730 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6738 @cindex article threading
6740 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6741 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6742 hierarchical fashion.
6744 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6745 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6746 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6747 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6748 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6749 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6750 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6752 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6756 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6759 A tree-like article structure.
6762 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6765 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6766 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6767 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6768 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6769 called loose threads.
6771 @item thread gathering
6772 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6774 @item sparse threads
6775 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6776 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6782 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6783 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6787 @node Customizing Threading
6788 @subsection Customizing Threading
6789 @cindex customizing threading
6792 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6793 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6794 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6795 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6800 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6803 @cindex loose threads
6806 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6807 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6808 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6809 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6810 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6811 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6813 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6814 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6815 There are four possible values:
6819 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6820 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6821 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6822 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6823 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6828 @cindex adopting articles
6833 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6834 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6835 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6836 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6839 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6840 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6841 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6842 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6843 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6844 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6845 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6846 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6847 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6848 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6851 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6852 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6853 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6857 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6858 display them after one another.
6861 Don't gather loose threads.
6864 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6865 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6866 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6867 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6868 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6869 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6870 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6871 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6872 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6873 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6874 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6876 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6877 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6878 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6881 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6882 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6883 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6884 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6885 simplification is used.
6887 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6888 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6889 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6890 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6892 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6894 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6900 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6901 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6902 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6903 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6908 (mapconcat 'identity
6909 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6911 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6914 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6917 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6918 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6919 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6920 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6921 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6922 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6924 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6927 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6928 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6929 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6931 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6932 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6935 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6936 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6937 Remove excessive whitespace.
6939 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6940 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6941 Remove all whitespace.
6944 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6947 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6948 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6949 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6950 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6951 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6952 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6953 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6954 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6956 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6957 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6958 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6959 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6960 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6961 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6962 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6963 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6964 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6968 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6969 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6970 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6971 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6973 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6974 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6975 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6978 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6982 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6983 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6989 @node Filling In Threads
6990 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6993 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6994 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6995 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6996 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6997 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6998 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6999 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7000 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7001 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7002 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7003 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7004 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7007 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7008 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7009 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7011 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7013 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7014 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7015 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7016 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7017 slow summary generation.
7019 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7020 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7021 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7024 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7025 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7026 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7027 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7028 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7029 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7030 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7031 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7032 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7033 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7034 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7035 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7036 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7037 @code{nil} by default.
7039 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7040 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7041 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7042 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7043 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7044 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7047 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7048 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7049 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7054 @node More Threading
7055 @subsubsection More Threading
7058 @item gnus-show-threads
7059 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7060 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7061 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7062 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7063 slower and more awkward.
7065 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7066 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7067 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7070 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7071 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7072 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7077 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7078 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7079 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7082 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7083 unread, but you get my drift.)
7086 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7087 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7088 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7089 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7090 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7091 threads are expunged.
7093 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7094 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7095 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7098 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7099 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7100 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7101 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7102 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7103 result in a new thread.
7105 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7106 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7107 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7110 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7111 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7112 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7113 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7114 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7115 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7116 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7117 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7118 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7119 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7120 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7125 @node Low-Level Threading
7126 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7130 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7131 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7132 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7134 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7135 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7136 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7137 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7138 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7139 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7140 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7141 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7142 meaningful. Here's one example:
7145 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7147 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7148 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7150 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7152 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7159 @node Thread Commands
7160 @subsection Thread Commands
7161 @cindex thread commands
7167 @kindex T k (Summary)
7168 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7169 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7170 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7171 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7172 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7177 @kindex T l (Summary)
7178 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7180 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7181 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7184 @kindex T i (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7186 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7187 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7190 @kindex T # (Summary)
7191 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7192 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7193 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7196 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7197 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7198 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7199 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7202 @kindex T T (Summary)
7203 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7204 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7207 @kindex T s (Summary)
7208 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7209 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7210 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7213 @kindex T h (Summary)
7214 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7215 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7218 @kindex T S (Summary)
7219 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7220 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7223 @kindex T H (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7225 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7228 @kindex T t (Summary)
7229 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7230 Re-thread the current article's thread
7231 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7232 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7235 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7236 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7237 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7238 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7241 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7242 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7243 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7244 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7248 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7249 understand the numeric prefix.
7254 @kindex T n (Summary)
7256 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7258 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7259 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7260 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
7263 @kindex T p (Summary)
7265 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
7267 @kindex M-up (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
7269 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
7272 @kindex T d (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
7274 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
7277 @kindex T u (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
7279 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7282 @kindex T o (Summary)
7283 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7284 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7287 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7288 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7289 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7290 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7291 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7292 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7293 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
7294 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
7295 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
7296 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
7297 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
7298 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
7302 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
7303 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
7305 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
7306 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
7307 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
7308 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7309 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
7310 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
7311 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7312 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
7313 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
7314 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
7315 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
7316 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
7317 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
7318 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
7319 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7321 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7322 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7323 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
7324 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7325 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
7326 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7327 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7328 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7329 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7330 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7332 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7333 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7334 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. Exceptions
7335 to this rule are @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number} and
7336 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date}.
7338 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7339 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7340 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7341 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7342 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7343 ascending article order.
7345 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7346 by number, you could do something like:
7349 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7350 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7351 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7352 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7355 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7356 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7357 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7358 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7359 which the articles arrived.
7361 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7365 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7366 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
7367 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7370 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7371 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7372 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7373 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7376 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7377 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7378 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
7379 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7380 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7381 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7382 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7383 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7384 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
7385 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7386 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7387 variable. It is very similar to the
7388 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7389 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7390 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7391 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7392 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7393 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7394 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7396 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7400 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7401 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7402 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7405 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
7406 @xref{Group Parameters}.
7409 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7410 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7411 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7412 @cindex article pre-fetch
7415 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7416 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7417 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7418 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7419 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7421 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7422 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7424 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7425 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7426 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7427 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7428 connection is blocked.
7430 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7431 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7432 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7433 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7435 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7436 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7437 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7438 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7441 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7444 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7445 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7446 happen automatically.
7448 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7449 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7450 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7451 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7452 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7453 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7454 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7456 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7457 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
7458 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7459 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7460 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7461 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7462 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
7463 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7464 article data structure as the only parameter.
7466 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7467 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7470 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7471 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7472 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7473 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7476 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7479 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7480 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7481 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7483 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
7484 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
7485 After an article has been prefetched, this
7486 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
7487 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
7488 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
7489 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
7490 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
7491 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
7493 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7494 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7495 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7496 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7500 Remove articles when they are read.
7503 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7506 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7508 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7509 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7510 @c from the next group.
7513 @node Article Caching
7514 @section Article Caching
7515 @cindex article caching
7518 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7519 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7520 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7521 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7522 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7524 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7526 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7527 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7528 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7529 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7530 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7531 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7532 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7533 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7535 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7536 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7537 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7538 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7539 as dormant, and don't worry.
7541 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7543 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7544 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7545 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7546 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7547 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7548 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7549 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7550 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7551 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7552 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7554 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7555 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7556 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7557 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7558 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7559 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7560 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7561 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7562 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7563 not then be downloaded by this command.
7565 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7566 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7567 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7568 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7569 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7570 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7572 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7573 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7574 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7575 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7576 variables, the group is not cached.
7578 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7579 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7580 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7581 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7582 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7583 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7584 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7585 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7586 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7589 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7590 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7591 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7592 where, isn't that cool?
7594 @node Persistent Articles
7595 @section Persistent Articles
7596 @cindex persistent articles
7598 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7599 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7600 useful in my opinion.
7602 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7603 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7604 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7605 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7606 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7607 the expiry going on at the news server.
7609 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7610 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7611 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7617 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7618 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7621 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7622 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7623 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7624 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7628 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7630 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7631 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7632 interested in persistent articles:
7635 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7638 @node Sticky Articles
7639 @section Sticky Articles
7640 @cindex sticky articles
7642 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
7643 according to the value of the variable
7644 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
7645 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
7646 has its own article buffer.
7648 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
7649 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
7650 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
7651 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next Christmas party.
7653 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
7654 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
7655 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
7659 @kindex A S (Summary)
7660 @findex gnus-sticky-article
7661 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
7662 name for this sticky article buffer.
7665 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
7671 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
7675 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
7676 Kills this sticky article buffer.
7679 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
7681 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
7682 Kill all sticky article buffers.
7683 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
7686 @node Article Backlog
7687 @section Article Backlog
7689 @cindex article backlog
7691 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7692 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7693 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7694 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7695 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7696 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7697 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7698 increase memory usage some.
7700 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7701 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7702 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7703 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7704 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7705 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7706 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7708 The default value is 20.
7711 @node Saving Articles
7712 @section Saving Articles
7713 @cindex saving articles
7715 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7716 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7717 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7718 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7719 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7721 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7722 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7723 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7725 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7726 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7727 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7729 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7730 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7731 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7732 deleted before saving.
7738 @kindex O o (Summary)
7740 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7741 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7742 Save the current article using the default article saver
7743 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7746 @kindex O m (Summary)
7747 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7748 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
7749 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7752 @kindex O r (Summary)
7753 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7754 Save the current article in Rmail format
7755 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
7756 Babyl in older versions.
7759 @kindex O f (Summary)
7760 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7761 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7762 Save the current article in plain file format
7763 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7766 @kindex O F (Summary)
7767 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7768 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7769 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7772 @kindex O b (Summary)
7773 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7774 Save the current article body in plain file format
7775 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7778 @kindex O h (Summary)
7779 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7780 Save the current article in mh folder format
7781 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7784 @kindex O v (Summary)
7785 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7786 Save the current article in a VM folder
7787 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7791 @kindex O p (Summary)
7793 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7794 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
7795 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7796 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7797 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7798 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
7799 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
7800 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
7801 to a string containing the default command and options (default
7805 @kindex O P (Summary)
7806 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7807 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7808 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7809 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7810 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7811 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7812 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7816 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7817 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7818 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7819 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7820 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7821 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7822 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7823 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7824 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7825 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7826 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7827 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7831 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7832 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7833 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
7834 functions below, or you can create your own.
7838 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7839 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7840 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7841 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7842 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
7843 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
7844 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
7845 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
7846 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
7847 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7848 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7850 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7851 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7852 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7853 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7854 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7855 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7857 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7858 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7859 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7860 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7861 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7862 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7863 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7865 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7866 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7867 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7868 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7869 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7870 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7872 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7873 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7874 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7875 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7876 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7878 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7879 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7880 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7881 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7882 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7883 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7885 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7886 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7887 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7888 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7889 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7892 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7893 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7894 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7895 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7896 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7898 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7899 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7900 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7901 reader to use this setting.
7903 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7904 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7905 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
7906 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
7910 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
7912 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
7913 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
7914 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
7915 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
7916 last used for saving.
7919 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
7920 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
7921 headers will be piped.
7924 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
7928 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
7929 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
7930 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
7931 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
7932 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
7933 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
7936 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
7937 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
7938 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
7939 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
7940 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
7941 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
7944 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
7945 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
7946 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
7947 headers should be saved.
7950 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7951 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7952 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7953 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7956 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7957 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7958 available functions that generate names:
7962 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7963 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7964 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7966 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7967 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7968 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7970 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7971 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7972 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7974 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7975 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7976 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7978 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7979 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7980 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7983 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7984 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7985 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7986 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7987 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7991 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7992 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7993 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7994 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7997 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7998 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7999 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8000 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8001 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8002 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8003 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8004 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8005 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8007 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8008 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8009 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8010 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8012 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8013 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8014 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8017 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8018 lots of mail groups called things like
8019 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8020 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8021 following will do just that:
8024 (defun my-save-name (group)
8025 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8026 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8028 (setq gnus-split-methods
8029 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8034 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8035 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8036 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8037 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8038 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8039 all the files in the top level directory
8040 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8041 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8042 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8043 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8045 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8046 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8047 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8048 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8049 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8052 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8056 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8057 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8058 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8061 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8062 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8063 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8064 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8067 @node Decoding Articles
8068 @section Decoding Articles
8069 @cindex decoding articles
8071 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8072 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8075 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8076 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8077 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8078 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8079 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8080 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8084 @cindex article series
8085 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8086 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8087 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8088 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8089 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8091 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8092 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8093 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8095 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8096 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8097 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8099 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8100 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8101 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8104 @node Uuencoded Articles
8105 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8107 @cindex uuencoded articles
8112 @kindex X u (Summary)
8113 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8114 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8115 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8118 @kindex X U (Summary)
8119 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8120 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8121 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8124 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8125 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8126 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8129 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8130 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8131 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8132 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8136 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8137 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8138 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8139 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8140 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8142 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8143 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8144 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8145 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8148 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8149 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8150 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8151 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8152 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8153 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8157 @node Shell Archives
8158 @subsection Shell Archives
8160 @cindex shell archives
8161 @cindex shared articles
8163 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8164 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8165 some commands to deal with these:
8170 @kindex X s (Summary)
8171 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8172 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8175 @kindex X S (Summary)
8176 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8177 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8180 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8181 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8182 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8185 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8186 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8187 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8188 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8192 @node PostScript Files
8193 @subsection PostScript Files
8199 @kindex X p (Summary)
8200 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8201 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8204 @kindex X P (Summary)
8205 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8206 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8207 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8210 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8211 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8212 View the current PostScript series
8213 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8216 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8218 View and save the current PostScript series
8219 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8224 @subsection Other Files
8228 @kindex X o (Summary)
8229 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8230 Save the current series
8231 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8234 @kindex X b (Summary)
8235 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8236 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8237 doesn't really work yet.
8240 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8241 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8242 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8246 @node Decoding Variables
8247 @subsection Decoding Variables
8249 Adjective, not verb.
8252 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8253 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8254 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8258 @node Rule Variables
8259 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8260 @cindex rule variables
8262 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8263 variables are of the form
8266 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8273 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8274 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8276 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8277 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
8280 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8281 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
8284 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8285 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8286 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
8287 user and default view rules.
8289 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8290 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8291 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
8296 @node Other Decode Variables
8297 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
8300 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8302 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8303 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
8304 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
8305 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
8306 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
8310 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
8311 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
8314 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
8315 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
8316 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
8319 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8320 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8321 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
8322 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
8323 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
8326 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8327 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8328 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
8330 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8331 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8332 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
8333 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
8334 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
8337 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8338 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8339 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
8341 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8342 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8343 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
8344 looking for files to display.
8346 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
8347 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
8348 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
8351 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8352 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8353 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
8356 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8357 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8358 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
8361 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8362 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8363 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
8366 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8367 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8368 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
8369 decoded articles as unread.
8371 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8372 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8373 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
8374 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
8376 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8377 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8378 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
8380 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8381 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8383 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8384 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8385 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8386 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8388 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8389 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8390 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8391 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8392 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8393 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8394 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8395 simply dropped them.
8400 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8401 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8405 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8406 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8407 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8408 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8409 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8410 for you when you post the article.
8412 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8413 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8414 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8415 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8417 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8418 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8419 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8420 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8421 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8422 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8423 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8425 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8426 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8427 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8428 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8429 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8430 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8431 Default is @code{t}.
8437 @subsection Viewing Files
8438 @cindex viewing files
8439 @cindex pseudo-articles
8441 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8442 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8443 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8444 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8445 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8446 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8447 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8449 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8450 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8451 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8452 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8454 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8455 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8456 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8458 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8459 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8460 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8461 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8462 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8464 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8465 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8466 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8467 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8468 a list of parameters to that command.
8470 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8471 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8472 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8474 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8475 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8476 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8479 @node Article Treatment
8480 @section Article Treatment
8482 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8483 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8484 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8485 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8486 these articles easier.
8489 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8490 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8491 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8492 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8493 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8494 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8495 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8496 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8497 * Article Display:: Display various stuff:
8498 X-Face, Picons, Gravatars, Smileys.
8499 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8500 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8504 @node Article Highlighting
8505 @subsection Article Highlighting
8506 @cindex highlighting
8508 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8509 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8514 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8515 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8516 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8517 Do much highlighting of the current article
8518 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8519 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8522 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8523 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8524 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8525 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8526 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8527 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8528 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8529 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8530 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8531 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8532 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8533 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8536 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8537 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8538 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8540 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8543 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8545 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8546 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
8547 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8549 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8550 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8551 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8553 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8554 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8555 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8556 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8557 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8558 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8560 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8561 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8562 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8564 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8565 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8566 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8568 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8569 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8570 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8571 that it's a citation.
8573 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8574 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8575 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8577 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8578 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8579 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8581 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8582 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8583 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8584 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8586 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8587 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8588 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8589 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8590 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8597 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8598 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8599 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8600 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8601 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8602 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8603 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8604 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8609 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8612 @node Article Fontisizing
8613 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8615 @cindex article emphasis
8617 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8618 @kindex W e (Summary)
8619 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8620 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8621 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8622 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8624 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8625 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8626 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8627 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8628 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8629 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8630 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8631 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8635 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8636 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8637 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8646 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8647 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8648 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8649 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8650 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8651 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8652 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8653 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8654 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8655 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8656 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8657 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8658 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8660 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8661 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8662 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8666 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8669 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8671 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8672 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8673 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8674 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8676 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8679 @node Article Hiding
8680 @subsection Article Hiding
8681 @cindex article hiding
8683 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8684 too much cruft in most articles.
8689 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-article-hide
8691 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8692 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8693 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8696 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8697 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8698 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8702 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8703 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8704 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8705 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8708 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8709 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8710 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8714 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8715 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8716 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8717 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8718 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8719 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8720 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8721 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8725 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8726 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8727 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8728 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8733 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8734 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8735 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8736 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8739 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8740 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8741 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8742 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8745 @cindex stripping advertisements
8746 @cindex advertisements
8747 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8748 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8749 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8750 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8751 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8752 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8753 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8754 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8755 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8756 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8762 (setq gnus-article-banner-alist
8764 "^\n*--~--~---------\\(.+\n\\)+")))
8767 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8768 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8769 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8773 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8774 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8775 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8776 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8777 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8778 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8779 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8780 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8781 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8782 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8783 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8786 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8787 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8793 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8794 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8795 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8796 customizing the hiding:
8800 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8801 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8802 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8803 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8804 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8805 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8806 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8811 Starting point of the hidden text.
8813 Ending point of the hidden text.
8815 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8817 Number of lines of hidden text.
8820 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8821 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8822 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8823 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8824 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8829 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8830 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8832 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8833 following two variables:
8836 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8837 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8838 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8839 50), hide the cited text.
8841 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8842 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8843 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8848 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8849 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8850 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8851 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8852 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8853 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8857 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8858 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8859 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8861 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8862 citation customization.
8864 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8868 @node Article Washing
8869 @subsection Article Washing
8871 @cindex article washing
8873 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8874 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8876 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8877 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8880 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8881 articles by default.
8886 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8887 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8891 Force redisplaying of the current article
8892 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8893 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8894 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8895 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8898 @kindex W l (Summary)
8899 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8900 Remove page breaks from the current article
8901 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8905 @kindex W r (Summary)
8906 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8907 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8908 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8909 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8910 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8911 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8913 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8914 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8915 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8916 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8919 @kindex W m (Summary)
8920 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8921 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8924 @kindex W i (Summary)
8925 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8926 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8927 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8928 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8929 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8930 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8935 @kindex W t (Summary)
8937 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8938 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8939 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8942 @kindex W v (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8944 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8945 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8948 @kindex W o (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8950 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8953 @kindex W d (Summary)
8954 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8955 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8957 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8959 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8960 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8961 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8962 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8965 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8966 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8967 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8968 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8971 @kindex W U (Summary)
8972 @findex gnus-article-treat-non-ascii
8974 @cindex Non-@acronym{ASCII}
8975 Translate many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters into their
8976 @acronym{ASCII} equivalents (@code{gnus-article-treat-non-ascii}).
8977 This is mostly useful if you're on a terminal that has a limited font
8978 and doesn't show accented characters, ``advanced'' punctuation, and the
8979 like. For instance, @samp{»} is translated into @samp{>>}, and so on.
8982 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8983 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8984 @cindex Outlook Express
8985 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8986 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8987 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8990 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8991 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8992 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8993 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8994 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8995 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8996 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8997 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8998 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8999 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9002 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9003 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9004 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9005 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9008 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9009 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9010 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9011 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9014 @kindex W w (Summary)
9015 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9016 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9018 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9022 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9023 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9024 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9027 @kindex W C (Summary)
9028 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9029 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9030 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9033 @kindex W c (Summary)
9034 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9035 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9036 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9037 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9038 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9041 @kindex W q (Summary)
9042 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9043 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9044 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9045 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9046 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9047 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9048 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9049 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9050 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9053 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9054 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9055 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9056 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9057 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9058 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9059 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9060 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9063 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9064 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9065 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9066 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9067 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9070 @kindex W A (Summary)
9071 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9072 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9073 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9074 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9075 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9078 @kindex W u (Summary)
9079 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9080 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9081 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9082 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9083 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9086 @kindex W h (Summary)
9087 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9088 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9089 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9090 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9092 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9093 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9094 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9096 The default is to use the function specified by
9097 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9098 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9099 @acronym{HTML}. Pre-defined functions you can use include:
9103 Use Gnus simple html renderer.
9106 Use Gnus rendered based on w3m.
9112 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9114 @item w3m-standalone
9115 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9118 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9121 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9124 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9129 @kindex W b (Summary)
9130 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9131 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9132 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9135 @kindex W B (Summary)
9136 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9137 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9138 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9141 @kindex W p (Summary)
9142 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9143 Verify a signed control message
9144 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9145 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9146 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9147 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9148 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9149 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9152 @kindex W s (Summary)
9153 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9154 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9155 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9156 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9159 @kindex W a (Summary)
9160 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9161 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9162 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9165 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9166 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9167 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9168 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9171 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9172 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9173 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9174 lines with a single empty line.
9175 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9178 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9179 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9180 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9181 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9184 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9185 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9186 Do all the three commands above
9187 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9190 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9191 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9192 Remove all blank lines
9193 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9196 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9197 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9198 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9199 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9202 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9203 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9204 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9205 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9209 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9212 @node Article Header
9213 @subsection Article Header
9215 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9220 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9221 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9222 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9225 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9226 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9227 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9228 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9231 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9232 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9233 Fold all the message headers
9234 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9237 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9238 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9239 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9240 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9245 @node Article Buttons
9246 @subsection Article Buttons
9249 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9250 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9251 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9252 button on these references.
9254 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9255 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9256 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9257 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9258 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9262 @item gnus-button-alist
9263 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9264 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9267 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9273 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9274 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9275 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9276 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9277 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9280 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9281 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9282 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9285 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9286 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9287 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9288 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9289 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9291 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9294 This function will be called when you click on this button.
9297 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
9298 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
9302 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
9305 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
9308 @item gnus-header-button-alist
9309 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
9310 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
9311 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
9312 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
9315 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9318 @var{header} is a regular expression.
9321 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
9324 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
9325 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
9327 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
9329 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
9330 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
9331 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
9332 default values of the variables above.
9334 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
9336 @item gnus-button-man-handler
9337 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9338 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
9339 argument with a string naming the man page.
9341 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
9343 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9344 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9345 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
9347 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9348 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9349 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
9350 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
9351 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
9352 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
9353 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
9354 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
9355 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
9356 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
9357 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
9358 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9360 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9361 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9362 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
9363 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
9364 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
9367 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9368 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9369 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
9370 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9374 @item gnus-article-button-face
9375 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
9376 Face used on buttons.
9378 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
9379 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
9380 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
9384 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
9387 @node Article Button Levels
9388 @subsection Article button levels
9389 @cindex button levels
9390 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
9391 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
9392 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
9393 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
9394 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
9395 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
9396 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
9397 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9400 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9401 (setq gnus-parameters
9402 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9403 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9404 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9409 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9410 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9411 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9412 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9413 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9414 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9416 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9417 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9418 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9419 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9420 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9421 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9422 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9423 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9424 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9425 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9426 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9427 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9428 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9430 @item gnus-button-man-level
9431 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9432 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9433 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9435 @item gnus-button-message-level
9436 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9437 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9438 Related variables and functions include
9439 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9440 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9441 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9442 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9448 @subsection Article Date
9450 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9451 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9452 when the article was sent.
9457 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9458 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9459 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9460 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9463 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9464 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9466 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9467 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9470 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9471 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9472 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9475 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9476 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9477 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9478 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9481 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9482 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9483 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9484 @findex format-time-string
9485 Display the date using a user-defined format
9486 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9487 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9488 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9489 for a list of possible format specs.
9492 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9493 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9494 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9495 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9496 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9497 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9500 Date: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9503 This line is updated continually by default. The frequency (in
9504 seconds) is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-update-date-headers}
9507 If you wish to switch updating off, say:
9509 @vindex gnus-article-update-date-headers
9511 (setq gnus-article-update-date-headers nil)
9514 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9517 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9518 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9519 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9520 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9521 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9522 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9523 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9527 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9528 preferred format automatically.
9531 @node Article Display
9532 @subsection Article Display
9538 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9539 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9541 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9542 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9544 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9545 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9547 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9548 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9550 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9551 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9553 Gravatars reside on-line and are fetched from
9554 @uref{http://www.gravatar.com/} (@pxref{Gravatars}).
9556 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9561 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9562 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9563 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9564 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9567 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9568 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9569 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9570 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9573 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9574 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9575 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9578 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9579 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9580 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9583 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9584 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9585 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9586 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9589 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9590 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9591 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9592 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9595 @kindex W D g (Summary)
9596 @findex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
9597 Gravatarify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9600 @kindex W D h (Summary)
9601 @findex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
9602 Gravatarify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9603 (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9606 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9607 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9608 Remove all images from the article buffer
9609 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9612 @kindex W D W (Summary)
9613 @findex gnus-html-show-images
9614 If you're reading an @acronym{HTML} article rendered with
9615 @code{gnus-article-html}, then you can insert any blocked images in
9616 the buffer with this command.
9617 (@code{gnus-html-show-images}).
9623 @node Article Signature
9624 @subsection Article Signature
9626 @cindex article signature
9628 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9629 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9630 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9631 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9632 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9633 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9634 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9635 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9636 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9639 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9640 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9641 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9642 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9643 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9644 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9645 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9646 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9649 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9652 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9653 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9654 signature when displaying articles.
9658 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9661 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9664 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9665 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9667 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9668 in question is not a signature.
9671 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9672 listed above. Here's an example:
9675 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9676 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9679 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9680 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9681 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9682 signature after all.
9685 @node Article Miscellanea
9686 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9690 @kindex A t (Summary)
9691 @findex gnus-article-babel
9692 Translate the article from one language to another
9693 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9699 @section MIME Commands
9700 @cindex MIME decoding
9702 @cindex viewing attachments
9704 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9705 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9711 @kindex K v (Summary)
9712 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9715 @kindex K o (Summary)
9716 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9719 @kindex K O (Summary)
9720 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9721 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9722 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9725 @kindex K r (Summary)
9726 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9729 @kindex K d (Summary)
9730 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9734 @kindex K c (Summary)
9735 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9738 @kindex K e (Summary)
9739 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9742 @kindex K i (Summary)
9743 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9746 @kindex K | (Summary)
9747 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9750 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9755 @kindex K H (Summary)
9756 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
9757 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
9758 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
9759 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
9760 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
9761 unless the prefix argument is given.
9763 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
9764 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
9765 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
9766 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
9769 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
9770 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
9772 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
9773 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
9774 the group (if you want).
9777 @kindex K b (Summary)
9778 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9779 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9783 @kindex K m (Summary)
9784 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9785 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9786 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9787 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9788 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9791 @kindex X m (Summary)
9792 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9793 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9794 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9795 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9798 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9799 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9800 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9801 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9804 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9805 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9806 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9807 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9810 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9811 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9812 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9813 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9815 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9816 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9817 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9818 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9819 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9820 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9823 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9824 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9825 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9826 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9833 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9834 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9835 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9836 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9839 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9842 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9846 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9847 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9848 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9849 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9850 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9851 default is @code{t}.
9853 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9854 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9857 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9858 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9859 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9860 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9861 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
9862 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
9863 for encoding in Gnus.
9865 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9866 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9867 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9868 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9869 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9870 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9871 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9872 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9874 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9875 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9876 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9877 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9878 displayed. This variable overrides
9879 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9880 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9883 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9884 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9885 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9887 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
9888 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
9889 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
9890 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
9891 Emacs MIME Manual}).
9893 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9894 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9895 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9896 default value is @code{nil}.
9898 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9899 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9900 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9901 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9902 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9903 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9904 save all jpegs into some directory).
9906 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9909 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9910 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9912 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9913 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9914 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9915 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9916 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9919 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9920 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9921 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9923 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9924 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9925 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9927 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9928 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9929 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9931 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
9932 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
9933 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
9934 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
9935 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
9937 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9938 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9939 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9940 overrides @code{nil} values of
9941 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9942 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9944 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9945 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9946 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9947 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9949 Ready-made functions include@*
9950 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9951 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9952 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9953 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9954 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9955 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9956 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9957 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9958 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9959 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9960 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9961 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9963 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9964 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9966 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9967 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9968 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9971 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9972 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9973 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9974 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9978 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9987 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9988 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9989 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9990 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9991 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9992 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9993 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
9995 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9996 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9997 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9998 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10000 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10001 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10002 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10003 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10004 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10005 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10006 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10007 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10008 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10010 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10011 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10012 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10013 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10014 quoted-printable header encoding.
10016 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10017 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10018 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10022 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10025 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10026 means encode all charsets),
10028 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10029 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10030 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10037 @cindex coding system aliases
10038 @cindex preferred charset
10040 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10041 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10042 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10044 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10046 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10047 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10050 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10051 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10054 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10055 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10057 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10060 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10063 This will almost do the right thing.
10065 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10069 (codepage-setup 1251)
10070 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10074 @node Article Commands
10075 @section Article Commands
10082 @kindex A P (Summary)
10083 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10084 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10085 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10086 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10087 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10088 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10091 @vindex gnus-fetch-partial-articles
10092 @findex gnus-summary-show-complete-article
10093 If @code{<backend>-fetch-partial-articles} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
10094 fetch partial articles, if the backend it fetches them from supports
10095 it. Currently only @code{nnimap} does. If you're looking at a
10096 partial article, and want to see the complete article instead, then
10097 the @kbd{A C} command (@code{gnus-summary-show-complete-article}) will
10103 @node Summary Sorting
10104 @section Summary Sorting
10105 @cindex summary sorting
10107 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10108 can't really see why you'd want that.
10113 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10114 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10115 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10117 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10118 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10119 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10120 Sort by most recent article number
10121 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10124 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10125 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10126 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10129 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10130 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10131 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10134 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10135 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10136 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10139 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10140 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10141 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10143 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10144 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10145 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10146 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10149 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10150 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10151 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10154 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10155 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10156 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10159 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10160 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10161 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10164 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10165 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10166 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10169 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10170 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10171 Sort using the default sorting method
10172 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10175 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10176 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10177 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10178 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10179 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10182 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10185 @node Finding the Parent
10186 @section Finding the Parent
10187 @cindex parent articles
10188 @cindex referring articles
10192 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10193 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10194 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10195 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10196 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10197 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10198 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10199 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10200 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10201 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10203 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10204 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10205 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10206 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10207 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10210 @item A R (Summary)
10211 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10212 @kindex A R (Summary)
10213 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10214 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10216 @item A T (Summary)
10217 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10218 @kindex A T (Summary)
10219 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10220 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10221 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10222 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10223 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10224 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10225 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10227 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10228 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10229 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10230 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10231 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10232 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10234 @item M-^ (Summary)
10235 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10236 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10238 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10239 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10240 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10241 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10242 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10243 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10245 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10246 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10247 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10250 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10251 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10252 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10253 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10254 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10255 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10258 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10259 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10260 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10263 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10264 then ask Google if that fails:
10267 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10269 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10272 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10273 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10274 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10275 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10276 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10277 group. @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
10279 Fortunately, the special @code{nnregistry} back end is able to locate
10280 articles in any groups, regardless of their back end (@pxref{Registry
10281 Article Refer Method, fetching by @code{Message-ID} using the
10284 @node Alternative Approaches
10285 @section Alternative Approaches
10287 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10288 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10291 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10292 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10296 @node Pick and Read
10297 @subsection Pick and Read
10298 @cindex pick and read
10300 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10301 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10302 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10303 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10305 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10306 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10307 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10308 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10309 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10310 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10312 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
10317 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
10318 Pick the article or thread on the current line
10319 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10320 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
10321 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
10322 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
10323 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
10324 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
10327 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
10328 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
10329 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
10330 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
10334 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
10335 Unpick the thread or article
10336 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10337 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
10338 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
10339 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
10340 the thread or article at that line.
10344 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
10345 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
10346 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
10347 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
10348 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
10349 will still be visible when you are reading.
10353 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
10354 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
10355 which is mapped to the same function
10356 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
10358 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
10361 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
10364 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
10365 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
10367 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
10368 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
10369 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
10371 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
10372 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
10373 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
10374 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
10375 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
10376 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
10377 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
10380 @node Binary Groups
10381 @subsection Binary Groups
10382 @cindex binary groups
10384 @findex gnus-binary-mode
10385 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
10386 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
10387 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
10388 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
10389 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
10390 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
10393 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
10394 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
10395 command, when you have turned on this mode
10396 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
10398 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
10399 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
10403 @section Tree Display
10406 @vindex gnus-use-trees
10407 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
10408 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
10409 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
10410 in the tree buffer.
10412 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
10415 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
10416 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
10417 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
10419 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10420 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10421 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
10422 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
10423 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
10425 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
10426 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
10427 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
10428 default is @code{modeline}.
10430 @item gnus-tree-line-format
10431 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
10432 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
10433 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
10434 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
10435 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
10436 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
10442 The name of the poster.
10444 The @code{From} header.
10446 The number of the article.
10448 The opening bracket.
10450 The closing bracket.
10455 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
10457 Variables related to the display are:
10460 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10461 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10462 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10463 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10465 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10466 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10467 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10469 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10471 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10472 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10473 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10474 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10478 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10479 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10480 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10481 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10482 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10483 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10484 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10485 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10486 other windows displayed next to it.
10488 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10492 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10493 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10496 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10497 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10498 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10499 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10500 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10501 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10502 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10506 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10509 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10519 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10524 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10525 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10527 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10529 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10535 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10536 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10537 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10540 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10541 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10542 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10543 (gnus-add-configuration
10547 (summary 0.75 point)
10552 @xref{Window Layout}.
10555 @node Mail Group Commands
10556 @section Mail Group Commands
10557 @cindex mail group commands
10559 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10560 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10562 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10563 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10568 @kindex B e (Summary)
10569 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10570 @cindex expiring mail
10571 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10572 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10573 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10574 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10577 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10578 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10579 @cindex expiring mail
10580 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10581 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10582 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10583 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10586 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10587 @cindex deleting mail
10588 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10589 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10590 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10591 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10592 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10595 @kindex B m (Summary)
10597 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10598 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10599 Move the article from one mail group to another
10600 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10601 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10604 @kindex B c (Summary)
10606 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10607 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10608 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10609 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10610 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10613 @kindex B B (Summary)
10614 @cindex crosspost mail
10615 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10616 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10617 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10618 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10619 be properly updated.
10622 @kindex B i (Summary)
10623 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10624 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10625 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10626 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10629 @kindex B I (Summary)
10630 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10631 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10632 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10633 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10636 @kindex B r (Summary)
10637 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10638 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10639 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10640 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10641 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10642 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10643 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10644 (which is the default).
10648 @kindex B w (Summary)
10649 @kindex e (Summary)
10650 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10651 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10652 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10653 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10654 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10655 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10656 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10659 @kindex B q (Summary)
10660 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10661 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10662 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10663 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10666 @kindex B t (Summary)
10667 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10668 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10669 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10672 @kindex B p (Summary)
10673 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10674 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10675 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10676 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10677 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10678 article from your news server (or rather, from
10679 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10680 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10681 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10682 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10683 just not have arrived yet.
10686 @kindex K E (Summary)
10687 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10688 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10689 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10690 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10691 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10695 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10696 @cindex moving articles
10697 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10698 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10699 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10700 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10701 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10702 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10703 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10706 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10707 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10708 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10709 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10713 @node Various Summary Stuff
10714 @section Various Summary Stuff
10717 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10718 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10719 * Summary Generation Commands::
10720 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10724 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10725 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10726 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10727 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10728 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10729 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10731 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10732 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10733 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10736 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10737 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10738 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10740 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10741 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10742 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10743 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10744 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10745 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10748 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10749 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10750 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10751 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10752 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10754 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10755 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10756 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10759 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10760 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10761 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10762 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10763 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10764 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10765 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10766 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10767 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10768 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10770 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10771 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10772 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10773 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10774 list of articles to be selected.
10776 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10777 the list in one particular group:
10780 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10781 (if (string= group "some.group")
10782 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10786 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10787 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10788 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10789 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10790 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10793 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10794 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10795 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10796 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10797 variable will be used instead.
10799 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10800 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10801 buffers. For example:
10804 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10805 '(message-use-followup-to
10806 (gnus-visible-headers .
10807 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10810 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10815 @node Summary Group Information
10816 @subsection Summary Group Information
10821 @kindex H d (Summary)
10822 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10823 Give a brief description of the current group
10824 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10825 rereading the description from the server.
10828 @kindex H h (Summary)
10829 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10830 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10831 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10834 @kindex H i (Summary)
10835 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10836 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10840 @node Searching for Articles
10841 @subsection Searching for Articles
10846 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10847 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10848 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10849 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10852 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10853 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10854 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10855 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10858 @kindex M-S (Summary)
10859 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
10860 Repeat the previous search forwards
10861 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
10864 @kindex M-R (Summary)
10865 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
10866 Repeat the previous search backwards
10867 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
10870 @kindex & (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10872 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10873 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10874 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10875 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10876 search backward instead.
10878 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10879 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10882 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10883 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10884 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10885 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10888 @node Summary Generation Commands
10889 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10894 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10895 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10896 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10899 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10900 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10901 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10902 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10905 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10906 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10907 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10908 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10911 @kindex Y t (Summary)
10912 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
10913 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10914 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
10919 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10920 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10926 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10927 @kindex A D (Summary)
10928 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10929 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10930 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10931 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10932 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10933 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10934 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10935 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10938 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
10939 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
10940 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
10945 Select the next article.
10948 Select the next unread article.
10950 @item next-noselect
10951 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
10953 @item next-unread-noselect
10954 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
10957 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
10958 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
10961 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10962 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10963 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10964 several documents into one biiig group
10965 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10966 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10967 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10968 command understands the process/prefix convention
10969 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10972 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10973 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10974 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10975 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10976 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10977 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10980 @kindex = (Summary)
10981 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10982 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10983 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10986 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10987 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10988 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10989 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10992 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10993 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10994 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10995 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11000 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11001 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11002 @cindex summary exit
11003 @cindex exiting groups
11005 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11006 group and return you to the group buffer.
11013 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11014 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11015 @kindex q (Summary)
11016 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11017 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11018 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11019 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11020 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11021 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11022 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11023 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11024 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11025 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11026 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11027 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11031 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11032 @kindex Q (Summary)
11033 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11034 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11035 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11039 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11040 @kindex c (Summary)
11041 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11042 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11043 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11044 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11047 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11048 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11049 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11050 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11053 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11054 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11055 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11056 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11059 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11060 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11061 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11062 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11066 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11067 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11068 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11069 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11070 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11071 all articles, both read and unread.
11075 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11076 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11077 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11078 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11079 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11080 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11081 articles, both read and unread.
11084 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11085 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11086 Exit the group and go to the next group
11087 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11090 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11091 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11092 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11093 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11096 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11097 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11098 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11099 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11100 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11101 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11104 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11105 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11106 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11107 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11109 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11110 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11111 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11112 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11113 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11114 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11115 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11116 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11117 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11118 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11119 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11120 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11122 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11124 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11125 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11126 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11127 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11128 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11129 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11130 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11131 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11132 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11135 @node Crosspost Handling
11136 @section Crosspost Handling
11140 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11141 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11142 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11143 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11144 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11147 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11148 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11149 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11150 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11151 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11153 @cindex cross-posting
11155 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11156 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11157 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11158 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11159 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11160 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11161 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11162 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11163 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11164 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11165 the cross reference mechanism.
11167 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11168 @cindex overview.fmt
11169 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11170 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11171 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11172 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11173 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11174 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11177 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11178 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11179 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11183 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11186 @node Duplicate Suppression
11187 @section Duplicate Suppression
11189 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11190 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11191 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11192 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11197 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11198 is evil and not very common.
11201 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11202 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11205 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11206 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11209 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11212 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11213 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11215 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11216 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11217 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11218 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11219 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11220 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11221 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11224 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11225 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11226 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11227 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11228 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11229 saw the article in.
11232 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11233 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11234 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11236 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11237 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11238 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11239 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11240 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11241 session are suppressed.
11243 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11244 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11245 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11246 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11248 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11249 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11250 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11251 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11254 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11255 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11256 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11257 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11258 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11259 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11260 to you to figure out, I think.
11265 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11266 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11267 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11272 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11273 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
11274 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
11275 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
11276 PGG Manual}), and Mailcrypt are also supported.
11279 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11280 or newer is recommended.
11284 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
11288 @item mm-verify-option
11289 @vindex mm-verify-option
11290 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11291 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11292 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11294 @item mm-decrypt-option
11295 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11296 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11297 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
11298 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11300 @item mm-sign-option
11301 @vindex mm-sign-option
11302 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
11303 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
11305 @item mm-encrypt-option
11306 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
11307 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
11308 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
11309 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
11312 @vindex mml1991-use
11313 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11314 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
11315 and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported although
11316 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
11320 @vindex mml2015-use
11321 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11322 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
11323 @code{pgg}, and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported
11324 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
11325 interface in this order.
11329 By default the buttons that display security information are not
11330 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
11331 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
11332 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
11333 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
11334 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
11335 how to customize these variables to always display security
11338 @cindex snarfing keys
11339 @cindex importing PGP keys
11340 @cindex PGP key ring import
11341 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
11342 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
11343 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
11344 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
11345 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
11346 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
11347 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
11348 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
11349 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
11352 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
11355 This happens to also be the default action defined in
11356 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
11358 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
11359 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
11360 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
11363 @section Mailing List
11364 @cindex mailing list
11367 @kindex A M (summary)
11368 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
11369 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
11370 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
11371 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
11374 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
11379 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
11380 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
11381 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
11384 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
11385 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
11386 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
11389 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
11390 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
11391 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
11395 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
11396 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
11397 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
11400 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
11401 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
11402 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
11405 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
11406 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
11407 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
11412 @node Article Buffer
11413 @chapter Article Buffer
11414 @cindex article buffer
11416 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
11417 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
11418 tell Gnus otherwise.
11421 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
11422 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
11423 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
11424 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
11425 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
11426 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
11430 @node Hiding Headers
11431 @section Hiding Headers
11432 @cindex hiding headers
11433 @cindex deleting headers
11435 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
11436 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
11438 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
11439 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
11440 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
11441 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
11442 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
11443 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
11444 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
11445 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
11446 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
11448 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
11452 @item gnus-visible-headers
11453 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
11454 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
11455 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
11456 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
11458 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
11459 the article and the subject, you'd say:
11462 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
11465 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11468 @item gnus-ignored-headers
11469 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
11470 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
11471 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
11472 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
11473 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
11475 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
11476 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
11479 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
11482 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11485 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
11486 variable will have no effect.
11490 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
11491 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
11492 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
11493 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
11494 the headers are to be displayed.
11496 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
11497 and then the subject, you might say something like:
11500 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
11503 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
11504 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
11506 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
11507 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
11508 You can hide further boring headers by setting
11509 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
11510 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
11511 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
11512 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
11515 These conditions are:
11518 Remove all empty headers.
11520 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11521 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11523 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11524 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11527 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11530 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11531 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11533 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11534 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11536 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
11537 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11539 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11542 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
11544 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
11547 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11550 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11551 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11554 This is also the default value for this variable.
11558 @section Using MIME
11559 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11561 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11562 while people stand around yawning.
11564 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11565 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11567 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11568 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11569 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11571 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11572 @findex gnus-display-mime
11573 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11574 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11575 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11576 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11578 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11579 @acronym{MIME} button:
11582 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11583 @item RET (Article)
11584 @kindex RET (Article)
11585 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11586 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11587 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11588 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11589 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11590 object is displayed inline.
11592 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11593 @item M-RET (Article)
11594 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11596 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11597 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11599 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11601 @kindex t (Article)
11602 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11603 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11605 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11607 @kindex C (Article)
11608 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11609 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11611 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11613 @kindex o (Article)
11614 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11615 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11617 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11618 @item C-o (Article)
11619 @kindex C-o (Article)
11620 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11621 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11622 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11623 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11624 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11625 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11627 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11629 @kindex r (Article)
11630 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11631 external body referring to the file via the message/external-body
11632 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11634 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11636 @kindex d (Article)
11637 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11638 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11639 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11641 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11643 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11645 @kindex c (Article)
11646 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11647 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11648 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11649 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11650 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11651 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11652 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11653 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11655 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11657 @kindex p (Article)
11658 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11659 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11660 @file{.mailcap} file.
11662 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11664 @kindex i (Article)
11665 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11666 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
11667 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11668 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11669 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11670 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11671 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11672 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11673 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11675 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11677 @kindex E (Article)
11678 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11679 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11680 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11682 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11684 @kindex e (Article)
11685 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11686 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11688 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11690 @kindex | (Article)
11691 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11693 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11695 @kindex . (Article)
11696 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11697 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11701 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11702 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11703 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11705 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11706 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11707 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11708 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11709 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11710 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11711 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11712 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11713 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11715 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11717 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11721 @section @acronym{HTML}
11722 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
11724 If you have @code{w3m} installed on your system, Gnus can display
11725 @acronym{HTML} articles in the article buffer. There are many Gnus
11726 add-ons for doing this, using various approaches, but there's one
11727 (sort of) built-in method that's used by default.
11729 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization,
11730 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This
11731 section only describes the default method.
11734 @item mm-text-html-renderer
11735 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
11736 If set to @code{gnus-article-html}, Gnus will use the built-in method,
11737 that's based on @code{w3m}.
11739 @item gnus-blocked-images
11740 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
11741 External images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't
11742 be fetched and displayed. For instance, do block all @acronym{URL}s
11743 that have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
11746 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
11749 This can also be a function to be evaluated. If so, it will be
11750 called with the group name as the parameter. The default value is
11751 @code{gnus-block-private-groups}, which will return @samp{"."} for
11752 anything that isn't a newsgroup. This means that no external images
11753 will be fetched as a result of reading mail, so that nobody can use
11754 web bugs (and the like) to track whether you've read email.
11756 Also @pxref{Misc Article} for @code{gnus-inhibit-images}.
11758 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
11759 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
11760 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
11761 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
11764 @item gnus-html-cache-size
11765 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
11766 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
11767 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
11769 @item gnus-html-frame-width
11770 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
11771 The width to use when rendering HTML. The default is 70.
11773 @item gnus-max-image-proportion
11774 @vindex gnus-max-image-proportion
11775 How big pictures displayed are in relation to the window they're in.
11776 A value of 0.7 (the default) means that they are allowed to take up
11777 70% of the width and height of the window. If they are larger than
11778 this, and Emacs supports it, then the images will be rescaled down to
11779 fit these criteria.
11783 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
11784 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
11789 @node Customizing Articles
11790 @section Customizing Articles
11791 @cindex article customization
11793 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11794 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11795 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11796 called automatically when you select the articles.
11798 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11799 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11800 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11801 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11803 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11804 for sensible values.
11808 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11811 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11814 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11817 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11820 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11823 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11827 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11828 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11829 regexps in the list.
11832 A list where the first element is not a string:
11834 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11835 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11836 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11840 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11845 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11846 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11847 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11848 considered to contain just a single part.
11850 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11851 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11852 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11853 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11854 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11855 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11856 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11859 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
11860 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
11862 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
11863 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
11864 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
11865 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
11866 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
11867 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
11868 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
11869 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
11870 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
11871 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
11872 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
11873 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
11874 @vindex gnus-treat-date
11875 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
11876 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
11877 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
11878 @vindex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
11879 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
11880 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
11881 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
11882 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11883 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11884 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11885 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11886 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
11887 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
11888 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
11889 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
11890 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
11891 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
11892 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
11893 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
11894 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
11895 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
11896 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
11897 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
11898 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
11899 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
11900 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
11901 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
11902 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
11905 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11906 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11907 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11908 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11911 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11912 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11914 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11916 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11917 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11918 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11919 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11920 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11921 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11922 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11923 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11924 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11925 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11927 @xref{Article Washing}.
11929 @item gnus-treat-date (head)
11931 This will transform/add date headers according to the
11932 @code{gnus-article-date-headers} variable. This is a list of Date
11933 headers to display. The formats available are:
11937 Universal time, aka GMT, aka ZULU.
11940 The user's local time zone.
11943 A semi-readable English sentence.
11946 The time elapsed since the message was posted.
11948 @item combined-lapsed
11949 Both the original date header and a (shortened) elapsed time.
11952 The original date header.
11955 ISO8601 format, i.e., ``2010-11-23T22:05:21''.
11958 A format done according to the @code{gnus-article-time-format}
11963 @xref{Article Date}.
11965 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11966 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11967 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11971 @item gnus-treat-from-gravatar (head)
11972 @item gnus-treat-mail-gravatar (head)
11976 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11978 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11980 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11981 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11982 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11986 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11987 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11991 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11992 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11996 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11997 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11998 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11999 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12000 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12001 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12002 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12003 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12004 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12005 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12006 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12007 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12008 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12009 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12010 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12011 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12012 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12013 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12014 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12015 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12017 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12019 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12020 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12021 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12022 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12023 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12024 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12026 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12028 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12029 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12030 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12031 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12032 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12034 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12035 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12036 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12037 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12038 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12039 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12040 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12041 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12043 @xref{Article Header}.
12048 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12049 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12050 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12051 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12052 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12056 @node Article Keymap
12057 @section Article Keymap
12059 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12060 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12061 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12062 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12065 @kindex v (Article)
12066 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12067 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12068 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12070 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12075 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12076 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12077 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12078 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12081 @kindex DEL (Article)
12082 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12083 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12084 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12087 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12088 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12089 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12090 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12091 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12094 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12095 @findex gnus-article-mail
12096 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12097 given a prefix, include the mail.
12100 @kindex s (Article)
12101 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12102 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12103 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12106 @kindex ? (Article)
12107 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12108 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12109 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12112 @kindex TAB (Article)
12113 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12114 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12115 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12118 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12119 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12120 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12123 @kindex R (Article)
12124 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12125 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12126 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12127 only yank the text in the region.
12130 @kindex S W (Article)
12131 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12132 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12133 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12134 active, only yank the text in the region.
12137 @kindex F (Article)
12138 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12139 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12140 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12141 only yank the text in the region.
12148 @section Misc Article
12152 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12153 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12154 @cindex article buffers, several
12155 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12156 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12159 @item gnus-widen-article-window
12160 @cindex gnus-widen-article-window
12161 If non-@code{nil}, selecting the article buffer with the @kbd{h}
12162 command will ``widen'' the article window to take the entire frame.
12164 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12165 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12166 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12167 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12168 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12170 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12171 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12172 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12173 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12174 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12175 the contents of the article buffer.
12177 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12178 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12179 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12181 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12182 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12183 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12184 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12186 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12187 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12188 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12189 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12191 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12192 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12193 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12194 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12195 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12196 with two extensions:
12201 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12202 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12203 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12208 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12211 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12214 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12215 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12216 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12219 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12222 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12225 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12230 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12234 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12236 @item gnus-break-pages
12237 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12238 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12239 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12240 paging will not be done.
12242 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12243 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12244 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12248 @cindex internationalized domain names
12249 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12250 @item gnus-use-idna
12251 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12252 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12253 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12254 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12255 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12256 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12258 @vindex gnus-inhibit-images
12259 @item gnus-inhibit-images
12260 If this is non-@code{nil}, inhibit displaying of images inline in the
12261 article body. It is effective to images that are in articles as
12262 @acronym{MIME} parts, and images in @acronym{HTML} articles rendered
12263 when @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization,
12264 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) is
12265 @code{shr} or @code{gnus-w3m}.
12270 @node Composing Messages
12271 @chapter Composing Messages
12272 @cindex composing messages
12275 @cindex sending mail
12280 @cindex using s/mime
12281 @cindex using smime
12283 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12284 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12285 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12286 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12287 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12288 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12291 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12292 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12293 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12294 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12295 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12296 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12297 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12298 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12299 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12302 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12303 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12309 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12312 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12313 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12314 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12315 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12316 @code{nil} include all headers.
12318 @item gnus-add-to-list
12319 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12320 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12321 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12323 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12324 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12325 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12326 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12327 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12328 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12329 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12330 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12332 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12333 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12335 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12336 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12337 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12338 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12339 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12344 @node Posting Server
12345 @section Posting Server
12347 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12348 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12350 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12352 It can be quite complicated.
12354 @vindex gnus-post-method
12355 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12356 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12357 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12358 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12359 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12360 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12361 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12362 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12363 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12366 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12369 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12370 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12371 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12372 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12374 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12375 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12377 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12378 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12381 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12382 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12384 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12385 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12386 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12387 value suitable for your system.
12388 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12391 @node POP before SMTP
12392 @section POP before SMTP
12393 @cindex pop before smtp
12394 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
12395 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12397 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12398 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
12399 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
12400 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
12401 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12404 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
12405 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12409 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
12410 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
12411 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
12412 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
12413 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
12414 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
12415 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
12416 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12418 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
12419 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
12420 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
12421 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
12422 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
12423 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
12426 (setq mail-source-primary-source
12427 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12428 :password "secret"))
12432 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
12433 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
12436 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
12438 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
12439 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12440 :password "secret")))
12441 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
12444 @node Mail and Post
12445 @section Mail and Post
12447 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
12451 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
12452 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
12453 @cindex mailing lists
12455 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
12456 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
12457 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
12458 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
12459 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
12460 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
12461 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
12462 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
12463 still a pain, though.
12465 @item gnus-user-agent
12466 @vindex gnus-user-agent
12469 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
12470 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
12471 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
12472 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
12473 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
12474 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
12475 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
12479 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
12480 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
12481 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
12484 @findex ispell-message
12486 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
12489 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
12490 you're in, you could say something like the following:
12493 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
12497 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
12498 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
12500 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
12503 Modify to suit your needs.
12505 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
12506 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
12507 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
12510 @node Archived Messages
12511 @section Archived Messages
12512 @cindex archived messages
12513 @cindex sent messages
12515 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
12516 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
12517 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
12518 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}. The
12519 default is "sent.%Y-%m", which gives you one archive group per month.
12521 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
12522 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
12525 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
12526 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
12527 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
12528 actually being used it is expanded into:
12531 (nnfolder "archive"
12532 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
12533 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
12534 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
12535 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
12539 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
12540 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
12541 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
12542 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
12543 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
12544 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
12545 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12546 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
12547 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
12548 saved method to reflect always the value of
12549 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
12550 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
12551 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
12554 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
12555 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
12556 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
12557 directory chosen, you could say something like:
12560 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
12561 '(nnfolder "archive"
12562 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
12563 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
12564 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
12567 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
12569 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
12570 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
12571 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
12573 This variable can be used to do the following:
12577 Messages will be saved in that group.
12579 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
12580 message will not be stored in the select method given by
12581 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
12582 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12583 has the default value shown above. Then setting
12584 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
12585 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
12586 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
12589 @item a list of strings
12590 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
12592 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
12593 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
12596 No message archiving will take place.
12601 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
12603 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
12606 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
12608 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
12611 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
12613 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12614 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
12615 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
12616 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
12619 More complex stuff:
12621 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12622 '((if (message-news-p)
12627 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
12628 messages in one file per month:
12631 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12632 '((if (message-news-p)
12634 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
12637 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
12638 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
12639 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
12640 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
12641 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
12642 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
12643 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
12644 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
12645 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
12646 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
12649 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12650 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12651 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
12653 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12654 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12655 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
12656 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
12657 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
12658 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
12659 changed in the future.
12661 @item gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12662 @vindex gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12663 Like the @code{gcc-self} group parameter, applied only for unmodified
12664 messages that @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} (@pxref{Summary Mail
12665 Commands}) resends. Non-@code{nil} value of this variable takes
12666 precedence over any existing @code{Gcc} header.
12668 If this is @code{none}, no @code{Gcc} copy will be made. If this is
12669 @code{t}, messages resent will be @code{Gcc} copied to the current
12670 group. If this is a string, it specifies a group to which resent
12671 messages will be @code{Gcc} copied. If this is @code{nil}, @code{Gcc}
12672 will be done according to existing @code{Gcc} header(s), if any. If
12673 this is @code{no-gcc-self}, that is the default, resent messages will be
12674 @code{Gcc} copied to groups that existing @code{Gcc} header specifies,
12675 except for the current group.
12677 @item gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12678 @vindex gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12679 @itemx gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12680 @vindex gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12682 These hooks are run before/after encoding the message body of the Gcc
12683 copy of a sent message. The current buffer (when the hook is run)
12684 contains the message including the message header. Changes made to
12685 the message will only affect the Gcc copy, but not the original
12686 message. You can use these hooks to edit the copy (and influence
12687 subsequent transformations), e.g. remove MML secure tags
12688 (@pxref{Signing and encrypting}).
12693 @node Posting Styles
12694 @section Posting Styles
12695 @cindex posting styles
12698 All them variables, they make my head swim.
12700 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
12701 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
12702 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
12705 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
12706 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
12707 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
12708 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
12709 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
12714 (signature "Peace and happiness")
12715 (organization "What me?"))
12717 (signature "Death to everybody"))
12718 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
12719 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12722 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12723 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12724 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12725 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12726 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12727 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12728 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12729 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12731 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12732 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12733 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12734 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12735 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12736 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12737 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12738 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12739 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12740 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12741 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12742 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12743 said to @dfn{match}.
12745 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12746 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12747 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12748 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12749 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12750 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12751 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12752 name can be one of:
12755 @item @code{signature}
12756 @item @code{signature-file}
12757 @item @code{x-face-file}
12758 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12759 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12763 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
12764 @code{message-signature-directory}.
12766 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12767 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12768 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12769 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12770 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12772 The attribute value can be a string, a function with zero arguments
12773 (the return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used)
12774 or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be
12775 used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12776 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current
12777 article are available through the @code{message-reply-headers}
12778 variable, which is a vector of the following headers: number subject
12779 from date id references chars lines xref extra.
12781 In the case of a string value, if the @code{match} is a regular
12782 expression, a @samp{gnus-match-substitute-replacement} is proceed on
12783 the value to replace the positional parameters @samp{\@var{n}} by the
12784 corresponding parenthetical matches (see @xref{Replacing Match,,
12785 Replacing the Text that Matched, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.)
12787 @vindex message-reply-headers
12789 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12790 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12791 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12793 @findex message-mail-p
12794 @findex message-news-p
12796 So here's a new example:
12799 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12801 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12803 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
12804 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12805 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12807 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12808 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12809 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12810 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12811 (signature my-news-signature))
12812 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12813 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12814 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12815 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12816 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12817 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12818 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12819 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12820 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12821 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
12822 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12824 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
12825 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12827 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12830 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12831 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12832 if you fill many roles.
12833 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
12834 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
12836 Of particular interest in the ``work-mail'' style is the
12837 @samp{X-Message-SMTP-Method} header. It specifies how to send the
12838 outgoing email. You may want to sent certain emails through certain
12839 @acronym{SMTP} servers due to company policies, for instance.
12840 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Message Variables, message, Message Manual}.
12847 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12848 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12849 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12850 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12851 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12853 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12854 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12855 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12856 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12857 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12861 @vindex nndraft-directory
12862 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12863 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12864 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12865 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12866 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12867 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12869 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12870 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12871 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12872 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12873 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12874 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12875 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12876 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12877 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12879 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12880 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12881 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12882 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12883 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12884 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12885 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12886 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12887 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12888 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12889 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12890 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12891 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12892 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12894 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12895 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12896 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12898 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12899 @kindex D e (Draft)
12900 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12901 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12902 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12904 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12907 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12908 @kindex D s (Draft)
12909 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12910 @kindex D S (Draft)
12911 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12912 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12913 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12914 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12915 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12918 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12919 @kindex D t (Draft)
12920 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12921 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12922 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12924 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
12925 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12928 @node Rejected Articles
12929 @section Rejected Articles
12930 @cindex rejected articles
12932 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12933 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12934 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12935 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12937 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12938 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
12939 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
12940 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
12941 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
12943 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
12944 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
12945 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
12947 @node Signing and encrypting
12948 @section Signing and encrypting
12950 @cindex using s/mime
12951 @cindex using smime
12953 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
12954 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
12955 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
12956 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
12958 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
12959 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
12960 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
12961 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
12962 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12963 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12964 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12965 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12966 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12967 automatically encrypted messages.
12969 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12970 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12971 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12976 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12977 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12979 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12982 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12983 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12985 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12988 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12989 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12991 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12994 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12995 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12997 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13000 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13001 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13003 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13006 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13007 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13009 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13012 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13013 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13014 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13018 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13020 @node Select Methods
13021 @chapter Select Methods
13022 @cindex foreign groups
13023 @cindex select methods
13025 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13026 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13027 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13028 personal mail group.
13030 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13031 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13032 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13033 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13034 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13035 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13037 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13038 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13040 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13043 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13044 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13045 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13046 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13047 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13049 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13052 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13053 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13054 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
13055 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13056 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13057 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13058 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13059 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13060 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13064 @node Server Buffer
13065 @section Server Buffer
13067 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13068 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13069 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13070 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13071 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13072 back end represents a virtual server.
13074 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13075 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13076 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13077 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13079 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13080 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13081 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13082 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13083 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13084 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13085 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13087 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13088 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13091 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13092 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13093 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13094 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13095 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13096 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13097 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13100 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13101 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13104 @node Server Buffer Format
13105 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13106 @cindex server buffer format
13108 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13109 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13110 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13111 variable, with some simple extensions:
13116 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13119 The name of this server.
13122 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13125 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13128 Whether this server is agentized.
13131 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13132 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13133 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13134 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13144 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13147 @node Server Commands
13148 @subsection Server Commands
13149 @cindex server commands
13155 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13156 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13157 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13161 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13162 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13166 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13167 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13171 @findex gnus-server-show-server
13172 Show the definition of a server (@code{gnus-server-show-server}).
13175 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13176 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13177 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13181 @findex gnus-server-exit
13182 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13186 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13187 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13191 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13192 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13196 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13197 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13201 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13202 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13206 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13207 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13208 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13213 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13214 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13215 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13216 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13220 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13222 Compact all groups in the server under point
13223 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13224 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13225 hence getting a correct total article count.
13229 Some more commands for closing, disabling, and re-opening servers are
13230 listed in @ref{Unavailable Servers}.
13233 @node Example Methods
13234 @subsection Example Methods
13236 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13239 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13242 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13248 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13249 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13252 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13253 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13255 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13256 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13260 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13263 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13264 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13266 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13267 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13268 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13272 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13275 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13278 Here's the method for a public spool:
13282 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13283 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13289 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13290 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13291 on the firewall machine and connect with
13292 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13293 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13294 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13295 should probably look something like this:
13299 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13300 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13301 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13304 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13305 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13306 configuration to the example above:
13309 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13312 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13313 an indirect connection:
13316 (setq gnus-select-method
13318 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13319 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13320 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13321 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13322 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13323 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13326 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13327 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13329 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13330 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13331 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
13335 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13336 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13337 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13341 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13342 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13344 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13345 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13347 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13348 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13349 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13351 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13353 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13354 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13355 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13356 will contain the following:
13366 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13367 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13370 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13371 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13372 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13375 @node Server Variables
13376 @subsection Server Variables
13377 @cindex server variables
13378 @cindex server parameters
13380 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13381 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13382 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13383 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13384 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13386 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13387 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13388 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13389 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13390 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13391 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13392 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13393 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13394 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13398 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13399 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13400 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13403 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13405 @node Servers and Methods
13406 @subsection Servers and Methods
13408 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13409 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13410 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13411 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13415 @node Unavailable Servers
13416 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13418 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13419 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13420 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13421 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13422 actually the case or not.
13424 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13425 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13426 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13427 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13428 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13429 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13430 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13431 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13433 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13434 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13436 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13437 with the following commands:
13443 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13444 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13445 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
13449 @findex gnus-server-close-server
13450 Close the connection (if any) to the server
13451 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
13455 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
13456 Mark the current server as unreachable
13457 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
13460 @kindex M-o (Server)
13461 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
13462 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
13463 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
13466 @kindex M-c (Server)
13467 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
13468 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
13469 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
13473 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
13474 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
13475 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
13479 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13480 Copy a server and give it a new name
13481 (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}). This can be useful if you have a
13482 complex method definition, and want to use the same definition towards
13483 a different (physical) server.
13487 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
13488 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
13494 @section Getting News
13495 @cindex reading news
13496 @cindex news back ends
13498 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
13499 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
13500 or it can read from a local spool.
13503 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13504 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
13512 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
13513 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
13514 server as the, uhm, address.
13516 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
13517 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
13518 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
13519 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13521 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
13522 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
13523 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
13525 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
13530 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
13531 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
13532 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
13534 @cindex authentication
13535 @cindex nntp authentication
13536 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13537 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
13538 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
13539 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
13540 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
13541 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
13542 present in this hook.
13544 @item nntp-authinfo-function
13545 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
13546 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13547 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
13548 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
13549 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
13550 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
13551 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
13552 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
13553 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
13554 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
13555 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
13559 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
13562 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
13564 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
13565 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
13566 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
13567 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
13568 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
13569 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
13570 @samp{force} is explained below.
13574 Here's an example file:
13577 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
13578 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
13581 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
13582 have to be first, for instance.
13584 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
13585 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
13586 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
13587 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
13588 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
13589 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
13590 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
13592 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
13593 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
13599 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
13600 previously mentioned.
13602 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
13604 @item nntp-server-action-alist
13605 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
13606 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
13607 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
13608 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
13611 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
13612 '(("innd" (ding))))
13615 You probably don't want to do that, though.
13617 The default value is
13620 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
13621 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
13622 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
13625 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
13626 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
13628 @item nntp-maximum-request
13629 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
13630 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
13631 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
13632 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
13633 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
13634 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
13635 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
13637 @item nntp-connection-timeout
13638 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
13639 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
13640 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
13641 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
13642 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
13643 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
13644 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
13645 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
13646 no timeouts are done.
13648 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
13649 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
13650 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
13651 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
13654 @item nntp-xover-commands
13655 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
13656 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
13658 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
13659 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
13663 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
13664 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
13665 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
13666 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
13667 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
13668 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
13669 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
13670 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
13671 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
13672 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
13673 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
13675 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13676 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13677 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
13678 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
13679 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
13680 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
13681 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
13682 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
13683 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
13684 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
13685 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
13686 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
13687 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
13688 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
13689 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
13690 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
13691 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
13694 (setq gnus-select-method
13696 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
13697 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
13701 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
13703 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
13704 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
13705 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13707 @item nntp-record-commands
13708 @vindex nntp-record-commands
13709 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
13710 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
13711 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
13712 that doesn't seem to work.
13714 @item nntp-open-connection-function
13715 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
13716 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
13717 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
13718 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
13719 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
13720 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
13721 indirect ones (three pre-made).
13723 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
13724 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
13725 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
13726 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
13727 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
13728 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
13729 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
13730 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
13731 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
13733 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13734 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13735 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
13736 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
13737 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
13738 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
13739 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
13741 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
13742 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
13743 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
13744 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
13745 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
13746 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
13747 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
13750 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
13753 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
13754 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
13756 @item nntp-server-list-active-group
13757 If @code{nil}, then always use @samp{GROUP} instead of @samp{LIST
13758 ACTIVE}. This is usually slower, but on misconfigured servers that
13759 don't update their active files often, this can help.
13765 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
13766 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
13767 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
13771 @node Direct Functions
13772 @subsubsection Direct Functions
13773 @cindex direct connection functions
13775 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
13776 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
13777 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
13778 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13781 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
13782 @item nntp-open-network-stream
13783 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
13784 remote system. If both Emacs and the server supports it, the
13785 connection will be upgraded to an encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS}
13786 connection automatically.
13789 The same as the above, but don't do automatic @acronym{STARTTLS} upgrades.
13791 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
13792 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
13793 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13794 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GnuTLS}
13795 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13798 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13799 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
13801 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13802 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
13803 (nntp-port-number 563)
13804 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13807 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
13808 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
13809 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13810 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
13811 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
13812 then define a server as follows:
13815 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13816 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
13818 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13819 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
13820 (nntp-port-number 563)
13821 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13824 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
13825 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
13826 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
13827 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
13828 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
13829 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
13830 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
13831 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
13835 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13836 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13837 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13840 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13841 session, which is not a good idea.
13843 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
13844 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
13845 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
13846 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
13847 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
13848 not available. The previous example would turn into:
13852 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13853 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
13854 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
13855 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
13860 @node Indirect Functions
13861 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13862 @cindex indirect connection functions
13864 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13865 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13866 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13867 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13868 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13869 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13872 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13873 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13874 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
13875 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13876 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13878 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13881 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13882 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13883 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13884 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13886 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13887 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13888 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13889 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13890 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13891 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
13894 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13895 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13896 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
13897 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13898 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
13899 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
13901 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13904 @item nntp-telnet-command
13905 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13906 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13907 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
13909 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13910 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13911 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13912 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
13914 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13915 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13916 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13917 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13919 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13920 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13921 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13922 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
13923 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13924 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13925 host. The default is @code{nil}.
13928 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13929 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13931 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13932 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13933 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
13934 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
13936 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13939 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
13940 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
13941 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
13944 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
13945 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
13946 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13947 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
13949 @item nntp-via-user-password
13950 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
13951 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
13953 @item nntp-via-envuser
13954 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
13955 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
13956 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
13957 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
13959 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
13960 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
13961 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
13962 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
13966 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13967 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13971 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
13976 @item nntp-via-user-name
13977 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
13978 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
13980 @item nntp-via-address
13981 @vindex nntp-via-address
13982 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
13987 @node Common Variables
13988 @subsubsection Common Variables
13990 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
13991 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
13992 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
13993 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
13994 variables individually).
13998 @item nntp-pre-command
13999 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14000 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14001 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14002 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14003 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14006 @vindex nntp-address
14007 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14009 @item nntp-port-number
14010 @vindex nntp-port-number
14011 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14012 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14013 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14014 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14015 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14016 not work with named ports.
14018 @item nntp-end-of-line
14019 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14020 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14021 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14022 using a non native telnet connection function.
14024 @item nntp-netcat-command
14025 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14026 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14027 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14028 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14031 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14032 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14033 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14039 @subsection News Spool
14043 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14044 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14045 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14048 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14049 anything else) as the address.
14051 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14052 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14053 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14054 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14058 @item nnspool-inews-program
14059 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14060 Program used to post an article.
14062 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14063 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14064 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14066 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14067 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14068 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14069 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14071 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14072 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14073 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14074 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14076 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14077 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14078 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14080 @item nnspool-active-file
14081 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14082 The name of the active file.
14084 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14085 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14086 The name of the group descriptions file.
14088 @item nnspool-history-file
14089 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14090 The name of the news history file.
14092 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14093 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14094 The name of the active date file.
14096 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14097 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14098 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14101 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14102 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14104 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14105 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14106 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14113 @section Using IMAP
14116 The most popular mail backend is probably @code{nnimap}, which
14117 provides access to @acronym{IMAP} servers. @acronym{IMAP} servers
14118 store mail remotely, so the client doesn't store anything locally.
14119 This means that it's a convenient choice when you're reading your mail
14120 from different locations, or with different user agents.
14123 * Connecting to an IMAP Server:: Getting started with @acronym{IMAP}.
14124 * Customizing the IMAP Connection:: Variables for @acronym{IMAP} connection.
14125 * Client-Side IMAP Splitting:: Put mail in the correct mail box.
14129 @node Connecting to an IMAP Server
14130 @subsection Connecting to an IMAP Server
14132 Connecting to an @acronym{IMAP} can be very easy. Type @kbd{B} in the
14133 group buffer, or (if your primary interest is reading email), say
14137 (setq gnus-select-method
14138 '(nnimap "imap.gmail.com"))
14141 You'll be prompted for a user name and password. If you grow tired of
14142 that, then add the following to your @file{~/.authinfo} file:
14145 machine imap.gmail.com login <username> password <password> port imap
14148 That should basically be it for most users.
14151 @node Customizing the IMAP Connection
14152 @subsection Customizing the IMAP Connection
14154 Here's an example method that's more complex:
14157 (nnimap "imap.gmail.com"
14158 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14159 (nnimap-split-methods default)
14161 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14165 @item nnimap-address
14166 The address of the server, like @samp{imap.gmail.com}.
14168 @item nnimap-server-port
14169 If the server uses a non-standard port, that can be specified here. A
14170 typical port would be @code{"imap"} or @code{"imaps"}.
14172 @item nnimap-stream
14173 How @code{nnimap} should connect to the server. Possible values are:
14177 This is the default, and this first tries the @code{ssl} setting, and
14178 then tries the @code{network} setting.
14181 This uses standard @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14184 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection, but will upgrade
14185 to encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} if both Emacs and the server
14189 Encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} over the normal @acronym{IMAP} port.
14192 If you need to tunnel via other systems to connect to the server, you
14193 can use this option, and customize @code{nnimap-shell-program} to be
14198 @item nnimap-authenticator
14199 Some @acronym{IMAP} servers allow anonymous logins. In that case,
14200 this should be set to @code{anonymous}.
14202 @item nnimap-expunge
14203 If non-@code{nil}, expunge articles after deleting them. This is always done
14204 if the server supports UID EXPUNGE, but it's not done by default on
14205 servers that doesn't support that command.
14207 @item nnimap-streaming
14208 Virtually all @acronym{IMAP} server support fast streaming of data.
14209 If you have problems connecting to the server, try setting this to
14212 @item nnimap-fetch-partial-articles
14213 If non-@code{nil}, fetch partial articles from the server. If set to
14214 a string, then it's interpreted as a regexp, and parts that have
14215 matching types will be fetched. For instance, @samp{"text/"} will
14216 fetch all textual parts, while leaving the rest on the server.
14218 @item nnimap-record-commands
14219 If non-@code{nil}, record all @acronym{IMAP} commands in the
14220 @samp{"*imap log*"} buffer.
14225 @node Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14226 @subsection Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14228 Many people prefer to do the sorting/splitting of mail into their mail
14229 boxes on the @acronym{IMAP} server. That way they don't have to
14230 download the mail they're not all that interested in.
14232 If you do want to do client-side mail splitting, then the following
14233 variables are relevant:
14237 This is the @acronym{IMAP} mail box that will be scanned for new
14238 mail. This can also be a list of mail box names.
14240 @item nnimap-split-methods
14241 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-methods} (@pxref{Splitting
14242 Mail}), except the symbol @code{default}, which means that it should
14243 use the value of the @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable.
14245 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14246 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14248 @item nnimap-unsplittable-articles
14249 List of flag symbols to ignore when doing splitting. That is,
14250 articles that have these flags won't be considered when splitting.
14251 The default is @samp{(%Deleted %Seen)}.
14255 Here's a complete example @code{nnimap} backend with a client-side
14256 ``fancy'' splitting method:
14259 (nnimap "imap.example.com"
14260 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14261 (nnimap-split-methods
14262 (| ("MailScanner-SpamCheck" "spam" "spam.detected")
14263 (to "foo@@bar.com" "foo")
14269 @section Getting Mail
14270 @cindex reading mail
14273 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14277 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14278 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14279 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14280 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14281 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14282 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14283 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14284 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14285 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14286 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14287 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14288 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14289 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14293 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14294 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14296 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14297 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14298 of a culture shock.
14300 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14301 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14303 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14304 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14305 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14306 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14308 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14310 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14311 deleted? How awful!
14313 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14314 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14315 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14316 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14319 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14320 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14321 they want to treat a message.
14323 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14324 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14325 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14326 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14327 archived somewhere else.
14329 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14330 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14331 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14332 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14333 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14335 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14336 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14337 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14339 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14340 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14343 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14344 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14345 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14346 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14347 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14349 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14350 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14351 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14352 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14353 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14354 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14358 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14359 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14361 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14362 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14363 and things will happen automatically.
14365 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14366 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14369 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14372 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14373 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14374 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14375 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14376 like any other group.
14378 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14381 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14382 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14383 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14387 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14388 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14389 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14392 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14393 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14394 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14397 @node Splitting Mail
14398 @subsection Splitting Mail
14399 @cindex splitting mail
14400 @cindex mail splitting
14401 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14403 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14404 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14405 to be split into groups.
14408 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14409 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14410 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14411 ("mail.other" "")))
14414 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14415 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14416 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14417 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14418 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14419 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14420 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14423 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14427 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14428 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14430 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14431 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14432 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14433 mail belongs in that group.
14435 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14436 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14437 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14438 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14439 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14440 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14441 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14442 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14443 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14444 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14446 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14447 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14448 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14449 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14450 thinks should carry this mail message.
14452 This variable can also be a fancy split method. For the syntax,
14453 see @ref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14455 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14456 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14457 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14458 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14460 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14461 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14462 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14463 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14464 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14466 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14469 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14470 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14471 links. If that's the case for you, set
14472 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14473 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14475 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14476 @findex nnmail-split-history
14477 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14478 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14479 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14480 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14483 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14484 Header lines longer than the value of
14485 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14488 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14489 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14490 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14491 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14492 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14493 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14494 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14495 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14496 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14497 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14498 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14499 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14501 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14502 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14503 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14504 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14505 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14506 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14507 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14508 other kinds of entries.)
14510 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14511 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14512 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14513 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14514 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14515 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14516 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14517 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14518 month's rent money.
14522 @subsection Mail Sources
14524 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14525 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14526 maildir, for instance.
14529 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14530 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14531 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14535 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14536 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14538 @cindex mail server
14541 @cindex mail source
14543 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14544 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14549 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14552 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14553 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14554 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14557 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14558 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14559 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14560 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14561 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14562 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14563 group might look like this:
14566 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14569 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14570 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14572 The following mail source types are available:
14576 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14582 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14583 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
14584 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
14588 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14591 An example file mail source:
14594 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
14597 Or using the default file name:
14603 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
14604 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
14605 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
14606 mail spool while moving the mail.
14608 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
14612 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
14615 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
14619 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
14622 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
14624 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
14627 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
14628 file you want to use.
14632 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
14633 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
14634 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
14635 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
14636 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
14637 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
14638 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
14639 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
14640 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
14641 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
14643 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14644 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
14645 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
14646 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
14652 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
14656 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
14660 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
14661 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
14662 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
14663 predicate are considered.
14667 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14671 An example directory mail source:
14674 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
14679 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14685 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
14686 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14689 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
14690 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
14691 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
14692 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
14693 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
14696 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
14700 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
14701 the user is prompted.
14704 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
14705 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
14708 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
14711 The valid format specifier characters are:
14715 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
14716 included in this string.
14719 The name of the server.
14722 The port number of the server.
14725 The user name to use.
14728 The password to use.
14731 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14732 corresponding keywords.
14735 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14736 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14738 One popular way to use this is to set up an SSH tunnel to access the
14739 @acronym{POP} server. Here's an example:
14742 (pop :server "127.0.0.1"
14747 "nohup ssh -f -L 1234:pop.server:110 remote.host sleep 3600 &")
14751 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14752 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14755 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
14756 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
14757 mail should be moved to.
14759 @item :authentication
14760 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
14761 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
14766 @vindex pop3-movemail
14767 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
14768 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
14769 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
14770 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
14771 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
14772 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
14773 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
14774 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
14775 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
14777 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14778 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
14779 name, and default fetcher:
14785 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
14788 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14789 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
14792 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
14795 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
14799 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
14800 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
14801 contains exactly one mail.
14807 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
14808 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
14811 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
14812 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
14814 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
14815 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
14816 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
14819 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
14820 from locking problems).
14824 Two example maildir mail sources:
14827 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
14828 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
14832 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
14837 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
14838 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
14839 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
14840 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
14841 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{Using IMAP}, for more information.
14847 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
14848 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14851 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
14852 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14855 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
14859 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
14863 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
14864 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
14865 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
14866 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
14868 @item :authentication
14869 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
14870 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
14871 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
14872 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
14875 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
14876 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
14877 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
14883 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
14884 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
14885 specifier characters are:
14889 The name of the server.
14892 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
14895 The port number of the server.
14898 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14899 corresponding keywords.
14902 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
14903 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
14906 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
14907 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
14908 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
14909 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
14910 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
14911 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
14914 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
14915 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
14916 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
14917 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
14920 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
14921 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
14925 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
14928 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
14930 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
14934 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
14935 @xref{Group Parameters}.
14940 @item Common Keywords
14941 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
14947 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
14948 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
14953 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
14958 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
14959 useful when you use local mail and news.
14964 @subsubsection Function Interface
14966 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
14967 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
14968 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
14969 consider the following mail-source setting:
14972 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
14973 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
14976 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
14977 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
14978 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
14979 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
14980 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
14982 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
14985 @node Mail Source Customization
14986 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
14988 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
14989 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
14993 @item mail-source-crash-box
14994 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
14995 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
14996 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
14999 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15000 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15001 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15002 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15003 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15004 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15005 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15006 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15007 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15008 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15010 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15011 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15012 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15013 files. This variable only applies when
15014 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15016 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15017 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15018 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15020 @item mail-source-directory
15021 @vindex mail-source-directory
15022 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15023 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15024 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15025 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15027 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15028 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15029 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15030 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15031 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15032 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15035 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15036 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15037 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is @code{#o600}.
15039 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15040 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15041 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15042 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15047 @node Fetching Mail
15048 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15050 @vindex mail-sources
15051 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15052 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15053 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15055 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15056 fetch mail by themselves.
15058 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15059 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15064 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15065 :password "secret")))
15068 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15072 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15073 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15076 :password "secret")))
15080 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15081 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15082 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15083 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15084 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15085 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15089 @node Mail Back End Variables
15090 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15092 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15096 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15097 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15098 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15099 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15101 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15102 @item nnmail-split-hook
15103 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15104 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15105 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15106 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15107 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15108 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15109 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15110 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15111 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15114 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15115 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15116 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15117 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15118 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15119 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15120 starting to handle the new mail) and
15121 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15122 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15123 default file modes the new mail files get:
15126 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15127 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o700)))
15129 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15130 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o775)))
15133 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15134 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15135 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15136 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15137 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15138 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15139 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15141 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15142 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15143 @findex delete-file
15144 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15146 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15147 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15148 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15149 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15150 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15152 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15153 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15154 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15155 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15156 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15158 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15159 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15160 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15165 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15166 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15167 @cindex mail splitting
15168 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15170 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15171 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15172 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15173 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15174 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15175 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15177 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15180 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15181 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15182 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15183 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15185 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15186 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15187 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15188 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15189 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15190 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15191 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15192 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15193 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15194 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15195 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15196 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15197 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15198 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15199 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15200 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15201 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15205 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15206 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15207 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15212 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15213 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15215 @c Don't fold this line.
15216 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15217 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15218 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15219 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15222 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15223 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15224 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15225 @var{split} is processed.
15227 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15228 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15229 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15230 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15232 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15233 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15234 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15235 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15236 stored in one or more groups.
15238 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15239 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15240 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15243 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15244 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15246 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15247 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15248 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15249 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15252 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15253 body of the messages:
15256 (defun split-on-body ()
15260 (goto-char (point-min))
15261 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15265 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15266 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15267 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15268 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15269 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15270 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15271 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
15273 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15274 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15275 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15276 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15277 should return a split.
15280 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15284 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15286 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15287 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15288 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15289 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15293 (any "joe" "joemail")
15297 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15298 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15299 of the following three ways:
15303 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15304 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15305 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15306 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15307 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15310 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15313 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15314 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15315 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15316 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15317 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15320 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15321 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15322 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15323 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15324 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15325 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15326 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15329 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15330 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15331 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15332 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15333 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15334 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15335 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15339 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15341 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15342 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15344 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15347 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15348 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15349 when all this splitting is performed.
15351 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15352 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15353 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15356 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15359 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15360 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15362 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
15363 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15364 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15365 groupings 1 through 9.
15367 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15368 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15369 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15370 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15371 groups when users send to an address using different case
15372 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15375 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15376 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15377 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15378 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15379 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15380 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15381 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15382 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15383 it once per thread.
15385 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15386 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15387 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15388 using the colon feature, like so:
15390 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15391 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15393 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15394 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15398 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15399 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15400 in the file specified by the variable
15401 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15402 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15403 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15404 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15405 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15406 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15407 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15408 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15409 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15410 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15411 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15412 300 kBytes in size.)
15413 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15414 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15415 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15416 messages goes into the new group.
15418 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15419 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15420 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15421 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15422 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15423 ``outgoing'' group.
15426 @node Group Mail Splitting
15427 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15428 @cindex mail splitting
15429 @cindex group mail splitting
15431 @findex gnus-group-split
15432 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15433 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15434 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15435 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15436 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15437 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15438 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15439 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15441 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15442 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15443 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15444 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15446 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15447 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15448 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15449 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15450 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15451 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15452 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15454 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15455 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15456 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15457 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15458 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15459 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15460 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15462 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15463 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15464 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15465 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15466 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15467 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15468 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15469 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15470 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15471 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15472 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15473 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15474 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15476 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15481 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15482 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15484 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15485 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15486 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15487 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15489 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15492 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15493 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15494 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15497 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15498 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15499 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15503 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15504 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15505 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15509 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15512 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15513 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15514 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15515 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15516 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15517 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15518 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15519 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15520 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15522 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15523 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15524 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15525 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15526 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15527 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15528 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15529 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15530 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15532 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15533 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15534 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15535 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15536 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15537 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15540 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15543 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15544 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15545 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15546 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15547 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15550 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15551 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15552 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15553 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
15555 @node Incorporating Old Mail
15556 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
15557 @cindex incorporating old mail
15558 @cindex import old mail
15560 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
15561 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
15562 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
15565 Doing so can be quite easy.
15567 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
15568 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
15569 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
15570 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
15571 your @code{nnml} groups.
15577 Go to the group buffer.
15580 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
15581 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15584 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
15587 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
15588 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15591 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
15592 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
15595 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
15596 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
15597 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
15598 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
15599 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
15601 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
15602 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
15603 using the new mail back end.
15606 @node Expiring Mail
15607 @subsection Expiring Mail
15608 @cindex article expiry
15609 @cindex expiring mail
15611 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
15612 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
15613 different approach to mail reading.
15615 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
15616 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
15617 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
15618 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
15619 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
15620 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
15623 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
15624 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
15625 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
15626 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
15627 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
15628 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
15629 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
15630 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
15631 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
15633 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-marks
15634 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
15635 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
15636 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
15637 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
15638 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
15639 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
15640 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} (and so on) are considered
15641 expirable. @code{gnus-auto-expirable-marks} has the full list of
15644 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
15645 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
15646 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
15647 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
15648 into its own group.)
15650 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
15651 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
15652 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
15653 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
15654 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
15655 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
15656 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
15657 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
15660 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15661 Groups that match the regular expression
15662 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
15663 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
15664 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
15666 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
15667 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
15668 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
15669 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
15670 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15672 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
15674 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
15675 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
15676 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
15679 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
15680 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
15681 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
15682 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
15683 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
15685 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
15686 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
15689 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15690 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
15693 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
15694 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
15696 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
15697 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
15698 don't really mix very well.
15700 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
15701 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
15702 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
15703 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
15706 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
15707 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
15708 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
15709 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
15712 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15714 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15716 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
15718 ((string= group "mail.junk")
15720 ((string= group "important")
15726 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
15727 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
15729 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
15730 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
15731 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
15734 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
15735 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15737 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
15738 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
15739 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
15740 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
15741 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
15742 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
15743 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
15744 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
15745 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
15746 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
15747 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
15748 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
15749 name or @code{delete}.
15751 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
15753 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
15756 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15757 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15758 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
15759 expire mail to groups according to the variable
15760 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
15763 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15764 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15765 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
15766 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
15767 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
15770 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
15771 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
15772 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
15773 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
15774 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
15775 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
15777 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
15778 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
15779 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
15780 easier for procmail users.
15782 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
15783 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
15784 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
15785 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
15786 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
15787 caution. Even more dangerous is the
15788 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
15789 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
15790 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
15791 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
15792 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
15793 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
15794 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
15797 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
15799 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
15800 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
15801 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
15802 auto-expire turned on.
15804 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
15805 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
15806 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
15807 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
15808 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
15809 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
15810 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
15811 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
15812 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
15813 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
15814 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
15815 into auto-expire groups, you can set
15816 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
15817 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
15818 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
15819 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
15823 @subsection Washing Mail
15824 @cindex mail washing
15825 @cindex list server brain damage
15826 @cindex incoming mail treatment
15828 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
15829 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
15830 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
15831 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
15832 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
15833 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
15835 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
15836 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
15837 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
15840 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
15841 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
15842 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
15843 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
15846 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15847 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15848 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
15849 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
15850 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
15853 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15854 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15855 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
15856 Emacs running on MS machines.
15860 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15861 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15862 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
15863 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
15866 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15867 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15868 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
15869 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
15871 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
15872 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
15873 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
15874 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
15875 into a feature by documenting it.)
15877 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
15878 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
15879 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
15880 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
15881 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
15882 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
15883 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
15886 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
15887 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
15890 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
15891 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
15894 This can also be done non-destructively with
15895 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
15897 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
15898 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
15899 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
15901 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
15902 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
15903 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
15906 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
15907 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
15908 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
15909 contain a line matching the regular expression
15910 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
15914 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
15915 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
15916 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
15920 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
15921 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
15922 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
15929 @subsection Duplicates
15931 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
15932 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
15933 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
15934 @cindex duplicate mails
15935 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
15936 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
15937 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
15938 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
15939 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
15940 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
15941 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
15942 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
15943 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
15944 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
15945 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
15946 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
15947 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
15949 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
15950 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
15951 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
15952 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
15954 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
15957 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
15958 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
15962 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
15963 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
15964 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
15965 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
15966 (any mail "mail.misc")
15967 ;; @r{Other rules.}
15973 (setq nnmail-split-methods
15974 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
15975 ;; @r{Other rules.}
15979 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
15980 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
15981 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
15982 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
15983 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
15986 @node Not Reading Mail
15987 @subsection Not Reading Mail
15989 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
15990 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
15991 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
15993 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
15994 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
15995 mail, which should help.
15997 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15998 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
15999 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16000 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16001 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16002 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16003 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16004 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16005 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16006 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16007 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16009 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16010 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16014 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16015 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16017 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16018 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16019 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16021 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16022 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16023 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16027 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16028 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16029 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16030 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16031 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16032 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16033 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16038 @node Unix Mail Box
16039 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16041 @cindex unix mail box
16043 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16044 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16045 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16046 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16047 which group it belongs in.
16049 Virtual server settings:
16052 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16053 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16054 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16057 @item nnmbox-active-file
16058 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16059 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16060 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16062 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16063 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16064 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16065 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16070 @subsubsection Babyl
16073 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16074 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16075 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16076 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16077 group it belongs in.
16079 Virtual server settings:
16082 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16083 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16084 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16086 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16087 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16088 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16089 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16091 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16092 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16093 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16099 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16101 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16103 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16104 format. It should be used with some caution.
16106 @vindex nnml-directory
16107 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16108 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16109 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16110 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16112 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16115 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16116 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16117 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16118 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16119 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16120 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16121 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16122 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16124 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16125 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16126 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16127 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16129 Virtual server settings:
16132 @item nnml-directory
16133 @vindex nnml-directory
16134 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16135 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16138 @item nnml-active-file
16139 @vindex nnml-active-file
16140 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16141 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16143 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16144 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16145 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16146 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16148 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16149 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16150 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16153 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16154 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16155 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16156 default is @code{nil}.
16158 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16159 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16160 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16162 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16163 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16164 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16166 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16167 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16168 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16169 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16170 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16171 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16172 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16173 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16174 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16176 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16177 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16178 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16179 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16180 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16184 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16185 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16186 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16187 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16188 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16189 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16190 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16195 @subsubsection MH Spool
16197 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16199 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16200 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16201 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16202 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16205 Virtual server settings:
16208 @item nnmh-directory
16209 @vindex nnmh-directory
16210 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16211 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16214 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16215 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16216 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16220 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16221 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16222 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16223 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16224 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16225 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16226 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16231 @subsubsection Maildir
16235 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16236 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16237 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16238 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16239 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16242 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16243 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16244 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16245 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16246 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16247 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16248 that appear as group in Gnus.
16250 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16251 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16252 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16254 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16255 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16256 another, and you will keep your marks.
16258 Virtual server settings:
16262 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16263 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16264 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16265 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16266 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16267 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16268 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16269 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16270 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16271 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16273 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16274 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16275 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16276 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16277 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16278 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16279 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16280 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16281 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16282 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16285 @item target-prefix
16286 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16287 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16288 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16291 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16292 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16293 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16294 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16295 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16296 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16297 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16298 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16299 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16301 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16302 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16303 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16304 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16305 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16307 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16308 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16309 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16310 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16311 @code{force} argument.
16313 @item directory-files
16314 This should be a function with the same interface as
16315 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16316 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16317 parameter is optional; the default is
16318 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16319 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16320 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16321 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16322 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16323 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16326 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16327 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16328 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16329 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16330 value is @code{nil}.
16332 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16333 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16334 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16335 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16336 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16339 @subsubsection Group parameters
16341 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16342 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16343 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16344 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16345 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16346 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16349 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16350 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16351 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16352 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16353 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16354 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16355 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16356 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16357 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16361 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16362 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16363 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16364 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16365 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16366 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16367 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16368 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16369 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16370 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16371 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16372 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16373 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16376 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16378 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16380 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16381 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16382 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16383 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16384 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16385 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16386 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16387 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16388 article. So that form can refer to
16389 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16390 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16391 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16392 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16395 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16396 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16397 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16398 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16399 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16400 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16401 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16402 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16403 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16404 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16405 contain extra copies of the articles.
16407 @item directory-files
16408 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16409 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16410 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16411 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16413 @item distrust-Lines:
16414 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16415 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16416 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16419 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16420 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16421 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16422 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16423 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16424 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16427 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16428 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16429 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16430 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16431 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16432 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16433 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16435 @item nov-cache-size
16436 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16437 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16438 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16439 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16440 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16441 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16442 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16443 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16444 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16445 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16446 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16449 @subsubsection Article identification
16450 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16451 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16452 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16453 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16454 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16455 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16456 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16457 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16458 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16459 request the article in the summary buffer.
16461 @subsubsection NOV data
16462 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16463 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16464 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16465 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16466 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16467 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16468 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16469 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16470 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16471 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16472 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16474 @subsubsection Article marks
16475 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16476 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16477 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16478 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16479 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16480 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16481 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16482 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16484 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16485 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16486 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16487 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16488 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16489 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16490 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16491 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16492 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16496 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16498 @cindex mbox folders
16499 @cindex mail folders
16501 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16502 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16503 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16504 numbers and arrival dates.
16506 Virtual server settings:
16509 @item nnfolder-directory
16510 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16511 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16512 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16513 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16515 @item nnfolder-active-file
16516 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16517 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16519 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16520 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16521 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16522 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16524 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16525 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16526 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16527 default is @code{t}
16529 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16530 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16531 @cindex backup files
16532 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16533 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16534 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
16535 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
16538 (defun turn-off-backup ()
16539 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
16541 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
16544 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16545 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16546 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
16547 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
16548 extract some information from it before removing it.
16550 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16551 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16552 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16553 default is @code{nil}.
16555 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16556 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16557 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
16559 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
16560 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
16561 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
16562 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16567 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
16568 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
16569 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
16570 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
16571 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
16572 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
16575 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
16576 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
16578 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
16579 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
16580 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
16581 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
16582 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
16584 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
16585 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
16586 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
16587 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
16588 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
16589 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
16590 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
16591 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
16594 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
16595 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
16596 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
16597 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
16602 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
16603 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
16604 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
16605 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
16606 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
16607 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
16608 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
16609 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
16610 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
16611 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
16612 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
16613 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
16614 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
16619 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
16620 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
16621 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
16622 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
16623 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
16624 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
16625 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
16626 Rmail was Emacs's first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
16627 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
16628 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
16629 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
16630 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
16631 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
16632 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
16633 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
16635 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
16636 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
16641 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
16642 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
16643 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
16644 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
16645 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
16646 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
16647 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
16648 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
16649 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
16650 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
16651 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
16652 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
16653 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
16654 provided by the active file and overviews.
16656 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
16657 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
16658 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
16659 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
16660 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
16663 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
16664 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
16669 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
16670 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
16671 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
16672 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
16673 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
16674 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
16675 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
16679 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
16680 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
16681 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
16682 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
16683 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
16684 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
16685 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
16686 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
16687 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
16689 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
16690 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
16691 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
16692 friendly mail back end all over.
16696 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
16697 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
16700 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
16701 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
16702 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
16703 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
16704 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}.
16705 (Use @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this
16706 slows you down or takes up very much space, a non-block-structured
16709 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
16710 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
16711 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
16712 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
16713 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
16714 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
16715 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
16716 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
16717 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
16718 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
16719 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
16721 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
16722 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
16723 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
16724 else, and still have your marks.
16726 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
16727 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
16728 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
16729 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
16730 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
16731 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
16732 removed in the future.
16734 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
16735 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
16736 on your file system.
16738 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
16739 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
16744 @node Browsing the Web
16745 @section Browsing the Web
16747 @cindex browsing the web
16751 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
16752 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
16753 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
16754 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
16755 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
16756 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
16757 even know what a news group is.
16759 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
16760 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
16761 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
16762 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
16763 you mad in the end.
16765 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
16768 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
16769 interfaces to these sources.
16773 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
16774 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
16775 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
16778 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
16779 alternatives to work.
16781 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
16782 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
16783 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
16784 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
16785 though, you should be ok.
16787 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
16788 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
16789 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
16790 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
16791 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
16793 @node Archiving Mail
16794 @subsection Archiving Mail
16795 @cindex archiving mail
16796 @cindex backup of mail
16798 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
16799 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
16800 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
16801 marks is fairly simple.
16803 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
16804 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
16807 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
16808 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
16809 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
16810 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
16811 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
16812 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
16813 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
16814 before you restore the data.
16817 @subsection Web Searches
16822 @cindex Usenet searches
16823 @cindex searching the Usenet
16825 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
16826 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
16827 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
16828 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
16829 searches without having to use a browser.
16831 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
16832 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
16833 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
16834 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
16835 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
16837 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
16838 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
16839 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
16840 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
16841 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
16842 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
16843 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
16844 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
16845 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
16846 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
16849 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
16850 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
16851 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
16852 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
16853 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
16854 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
16856 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
16857 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
16858 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
16860 Virtual server variables:
16865 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
16866 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
16867 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
16870 @vindex nnweb-search
16871 The search string to feed to the search engine.
16873 @item nnweb-max-hits
16874 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
16875 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
16878 @item nnweb-type-definition
16879 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
16880 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
16881 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
16886 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
16890 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
16893 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
16896 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
16900 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
16911 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
16912 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
16913 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
16914 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
16915 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
16917 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
16918 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16920 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
16921 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
16922 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
16925 @kindex G R (Group)
16926 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
16927 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
16928 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
16929 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
16931 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
16932 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
16933 subscribe to groups.
16935 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
16936 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
16937 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
16938 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
16939 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
16942 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
16943 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
16944 and a @samp{text/html} part.
16947 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
16948 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
16951 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
16952 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
16956 @defun nnrss-opml-export
16957 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
16958 @acronym{OPML} format.
16961 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
16964 @item nnrss-directory
16965 @vindex nnrss-directory
16966 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
16967 @file{~/News/rss/}.
16969 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
16970 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
16971 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
16972 data files. The default is the value of
16973 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
16974 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
16976 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
16977 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
16978 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
16979 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
16980 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
16981 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
16982 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
16983 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
16985 @item nnrss-use-local
16986 @vindex nnrss-use-local
16987 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
16988 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
16989 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
16990 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
16991 download script using @command{wget}.
16994 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
16995 the summary buffer.
16998 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
16999 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17001 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17003 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17004 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17007 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17011 (require 'browse-url)
17013 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17015 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17018 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17019 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17022 (browse-url (cdr url))
17023 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17024 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17026 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17027 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17028 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17029 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17032 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17033 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17034 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17035 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17036 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17037 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17038 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17039 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17040 @code{nnrss} groups:
17043 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17044 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17046 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17047 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17048 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17050 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17053 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17057 @node Customizing W3
17058 @subsection Customizing W3
17064 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17065 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17066 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17069 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17070 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17071 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17074 (eval-after-load "w3"
17076 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17077 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17078 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17079 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17081 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17084 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17085 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17089 @node Other Sources
17090 @section Other Sources
17092 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17093 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17097 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17098 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17099 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17100 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17101 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
17105 @node Directory Groups
17106 @subsection Directory Groups
17108 @cindex directory groups
17110 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17111 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17114 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17115 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17116 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17117 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17119 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17120 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17121 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17122 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17123 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17125 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17127 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17128 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17129 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17130 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17133 @node Anything Groups
17134 @subsection Anything Groups
17137 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17138 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17139 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17142 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17143 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17144 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17145 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17146 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17147 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17148 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17149 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
17150 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17151 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17154 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17155 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17156 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17157 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17159 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17160 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17161 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17162 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17164 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17165 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17166 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17167 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17168 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17169 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17170 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17171 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17176 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17177 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17178 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17179 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17181 @item nneething-exclude-files
17182 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17183 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17184 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17186 @item nneething-include-files
17187 @vindex nneething-include-files
17188 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17189 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17191 @item nneething-map-file
17192 @vindex nneething-map-file
17193 Name of the map files.
17197 @node Document Groups
17198 @subsection Document Groups
17200 @cindex documentation group
17203 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17204 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17214 The standard Unix mbox file.
17216 @cindex MMDF mail box
17218 The MMDF mail box format.
17221 Several news articles appended into a file.
17223 @cindex rnews batch files
17225 The rnews batch transport format.
17228 Netscape mail boxes.
17231 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17233 @item standard-digest
17234 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17237 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17239 @item lanl-gov-announce
17240 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17242 @cindex git commit messages
17244 @code{git} commit messages.
17246 @cindex forwarded messages
17247 @item rfc822-forward
17248 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17251 The Outlook mail box.
17254 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17257 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17260 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17263 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17269 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17272 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17278 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17279 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17280 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17283 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17284 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17285 group. And that's it.
17287 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17288 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17289 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17290 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17291 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17292 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17293 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17294 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17295 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17296 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17298 Virtual server variables:
17301 @item nndoc-article-type
17302 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17303 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17304 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17305 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17306 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17307 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17309 @item nndoc-post-type
17310 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17311 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17312 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17317 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17321 @node Document Server Internals
17322 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17324 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17325 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17326 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17327 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17329 First, here's an example document type definition:
17333 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17334 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17337 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17338 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17339 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17340 types can be defined with very few settings:
17343 @item first-article
17344 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17345 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17348 @item article-begin
17349 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17350 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17351 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17352 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17354 @item article-begin-function
17355 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17356 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17359 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17360 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17361 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17363 @item head-begin-function
17364 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17365 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17368 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17369 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17372 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17373 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17374 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17376 @item body-begin-function
17377 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17378 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17381 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17382 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17383 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17385 @item body-end-function
17386 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17387 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17390 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17391 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17394 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17395 regexp will be totally ignored.
17399 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17400 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17401 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17402 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17403 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17406 @item prepare-body-function
17407 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17408 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17409 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17411 @item article-transform-function
17412 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17413 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17414 body of the article.
17416 @item generate-head-function
17417 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17418 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17419 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17420 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17422 @item generate-article-function
17423 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17424 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17425 parameter when requesting all articles.
17427 @item dissection-function
17428 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17429 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17430 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17431 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17432 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17433 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17437 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17442 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17443 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17444 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17445 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17446 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17447 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17448 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17449 (subtype digest guess))
17452 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17453 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17454 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17455 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17456 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17458 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17459 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17460 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17461 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17462 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17463 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17464 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17465 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17466 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17467 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17468 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17469 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17472 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17473 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17474 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17477 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17478 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17479 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17481 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17487 @item nngateway-address
17488 @vindex nngateway-address
17489 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17491 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17492 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17493 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17494 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17495 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17496 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17497 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17500 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17501 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17502 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17505 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17508 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17511 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17514 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17516 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17519 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17520 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17521 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17523 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17525 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17526 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17527 @code{nngateway-address}.
17535 (setq gnus-post-method
17537 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17538 (nngateway-header-transformation
17539 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17542 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17545 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17549 @node The Empty Backend
17550 @subsection The Empty Backend
17553 @code{nnnil} is a backend that can be used as a placeholder if you
17554 have to specify a backend somewhere, but don't really want to. The
17555 classical example is if you don't want to have a primary select
17556 methods, but want to only use secondary ones:
17559 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil ""))
17560 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17566 @node Combined Groups
17567 @section Combined Groups
17569 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17573 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17577 @node Virtual Groups
17578 @subsection Virtual Groups
17580 @cindex virtual groups
17581 @cindex merging groups
17583 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17586 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17587 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17588 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17590 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17591 regexp to match component groups.
17593 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17594 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17595 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17596 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17597 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17598 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17599 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17600 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17602 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17603 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17606 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17609 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17610 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17612 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17613 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17614 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17615 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17618 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17621 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17622 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17623 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17625 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17626 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17627 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17628 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17629 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17631 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17632 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17633 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17635 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17636 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
17637 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
17638 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
17639 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
17640 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
17641 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
17642 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
17643 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
17644 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
17645 it---it'll have much the same effect.
17647 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17648 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17649 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17650 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17651 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17652 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17653 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17655 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17656 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17658 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17659 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17663 @node Email Based Diary
17664 @section Email Based Diary
17666 @cindex email based diary
17669 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17670 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17671 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17672 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17673 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17674 namely, as event reminders.
17676 Here is a typical scenario:
17680 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17681 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17683 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17685 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17687 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
17688 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17689 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17691 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17692 of the night you're gonna have.
17694 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17695 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17698 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17699 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17700 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17701 explained in the sections below.
17704 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17705 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17706 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17710 @node The NNDiary Back End
17711 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17713 @cindex the nndiary back end
17715 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17716 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17717 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17718 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17719 directory per group.
17721 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17722 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17723 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17724 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17727 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17728 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17729 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17732 @node Diary Messages
17733 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17734 @cindex nndiary messages
17735 @cindex nndiary mails
17737 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17738 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17739 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17740 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17741 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17742 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17743 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17747 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17748 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17749 (separated by a comma).
17751 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17753 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17755 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17756 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17757 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17759 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17760 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17761 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17763 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17764 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17765 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17766 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17767 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17768 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17771 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17772 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17773 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17778 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17781 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17783 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17786 @node Running NNDiary
17787 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17788 @cindex running nndiary
17789 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17791 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17792 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17793 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17794 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17795 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17796 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17798 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17799 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17800 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17801 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17802 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17803 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17804 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17807 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
17812 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
17813 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17816 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
17819 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
17820 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
17821 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
17822 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
17823 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
17825 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
17826 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
17835 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
17836 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
17838 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
17839 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17840 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
17841 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
17844 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
17845 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17846 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
17849 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
17850 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
17851 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
17853 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
17854 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
17855 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
17856 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
17857 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
17859 @node Customizing NNDiary
17860 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
17861 @cindex customizing nndiary
17862 @cindex nndiary customization
17864 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
17865 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
17866 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
17867 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
17869 @defvar nndiary-reminders
17870 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
17871 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
17872 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
17873 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
17877 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
17878 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
17883 @node The Gnus Diary Library
17884 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
17886 @cindex the gnus diary library
17888 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
17889 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
17890 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
17891 useful things for you.
17893 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17896 (require 'gnus-diary)
17899 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
17900 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
17901 (sorry if you used them before).
17905 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
17906 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
17907 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
17908 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
17911 @node Diary Summary Line Format
17912 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
17913 @cindex diary summary buffer line
17914 @cindex diary summary line format
17916 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
17917 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
17918 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
17919 see the event's date.
17921 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
17922 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
17923 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
17924 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximate remaining time until the
17925 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
17927 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
17928 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
17929 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
17932 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
17935 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
17936 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
17939 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
17942 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
17943 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
17944 with the following user options:
17946 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
17947 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
17948 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
17949 diary groups'parameters.
17952 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
17953 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
17954 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
17957 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
17958 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
17959 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
17960 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
17961 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
17964 @node Diary Articles Sorting
17965 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
17966 @cindex diary articles sorting
17967 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
17968 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
17969 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
17970 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
17972 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
17973 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
17974 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
17975 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
17976 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
17978 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
17979 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
17980 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
17981 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
17984 @node Diary Headers Generation
17985 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
17986 @cindex diary headers generation
17987 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
17989 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
17990 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
17991 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
17992 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
17995 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
17996 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
17997 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
17998 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
17999 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
18001 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18002 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18003 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18006 @node Diary Group Parameters
18007 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18008 @cindex diary group parameters
18010 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18011 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18012 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18013 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18014 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18015 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18016 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18017 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18019 @node Sending or Not Sending
18020 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18022 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18023 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18027 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18028 messages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18029 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18030 sending the diary message to them as well.
18032 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18033 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18034 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18035 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18038 @node Gnus Unplugged
18039 @section Gnus Unplugged
18044 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18046 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18047 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18048 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18049 read news. Believe it or not.
18051 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18052 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18053 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18054 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18055 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18057 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18058 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18059 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18060 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18061 reading news on a machine.
18063 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18064 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18065 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18067 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18070 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18071 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18072 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18073 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18074 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18075 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18076 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18077 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18078 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18079 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18080 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18081 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18082 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18083 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18088 @subsection Agent Basics
18090 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18092 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18093 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18094 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18095 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18097 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18098 connected to the net continuously.
18100 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18101 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18103 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18104 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18105 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18106 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18107 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18109 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18110 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18111 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18112 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18113 they're kinda like plugged always).
18115 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18116 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18117 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18120 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18121 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18122 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18123 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18124 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18126 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18131 @findex gnus-unplugged
18132 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18133 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18134 already fetched while in this mode.
18137 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18138 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18139 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18140 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18141 Source Specifiers}).
18144 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18145 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18146 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18147 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18148 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18151 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18152 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18153 then you read the news offline.
18156 And then you go to step 2.
18159 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18165 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18166 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18167 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18168 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18169 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18170 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18171 no servers are agentized.
18174 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18175 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18176 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18177 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18179 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18180 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18181 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18182 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18183 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18184 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18188 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18192 @node Agent Categories
18193 @subsection Agent Categories
18195 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18196 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18197 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18198 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18199 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18200 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18201 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18203 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18204 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18205 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18206 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18207 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18209 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18210 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18211 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18212 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18213 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18216 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18217 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18218 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18219 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18220 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18221 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18225 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18226 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18227 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18231 @node Category Syntax
18232 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18234 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18235 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18236 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18239 @cindex Agent Parameters
18242 The list of groups that are in this category.
18244 @item agent-predicate
18245 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18246 are eligible for downloading; and
18249 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18250 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18251 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18253 @item agent-enable-expiration
18254 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18255 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18256 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18257 only groups that should not be expired.
18259 @item agent-days-until-old
18260 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18261 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18263 @item agent-low-score
18264 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18266 @item agent-high-score
18267 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18269 @item agent-short-article
18270 an integer that overrides the value of
18271 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18273 @item agent-long-article
18274 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18276 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18277 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18278 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18279 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18280 undownloaded faces.
18283 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18286 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18287 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18288 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18291 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18292 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18293 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18294 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18296 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18297 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18298 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18300 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18301 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18302 operators sprinkled in between.
18304 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18306 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18307 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18313 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18314 short (for some value of ``short'').
18316 Here's a more complex predicate:
18325 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18326 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18329 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18330 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18331 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18333 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18334 you want to do, you can write your own.
18336 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18337 bound to the value determined by calling
18338 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18339 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18340 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18341 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18342 predicate to individual groups.
18346 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18347 lines; default 100.
18350 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18351 lines; default 200.
18354 True if the article has a download score less than
18355 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18358 True if the article has a download score greater than
18359 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18362 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18363 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18364 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18373 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18374 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18375 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18378 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18379 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
18380 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18381 something along the lines of the following:
18384 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18385 "Say whether an article is old."
18386 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18387 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18390 with the predicate then defined as:
18393 (not my-article-old-p)
18396 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18397 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18401 (require 'gnus-agent)
18402 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18403 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18404 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18407 and simply specify your predicate as:
18413 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18414 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18415 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18416 just don't give a damn.
18418 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18419 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18420 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18421 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18422 parameters like so:
18425 (agent-predicate . short)
18428 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18429 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18430 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18432 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18435 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18438 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18439 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18440 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18443 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18444 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18445 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18446 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18447 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18448 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18450 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18451 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18452 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18453 if it's to be specific to that group.
18455 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18462 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18463 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18469 Category specification
18473 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18479 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18482 (agent-score ("from"
18483 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18488 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18494 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18495 keywords stated above.
18501 Category specification
18504 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18510 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18514 Group Parameter specification
18517 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18520 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18525 Use @code{normal} score files
18527 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18528 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18529 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18530 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18532 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18533 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18534 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18535 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18539 Category Specification
18546 Group Parameter specification
18549 (agent-score . file)
18554 @node Category Buffer
18555 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18557 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18558 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18559 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18561 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18565 @kindex q (Category)
18566 @findex gnus-category-exit
18567 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18570 @kindex e (Category)
18571 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18572 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18573 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18576 @kindex k (Category)
18577 @findex gnus-category-kill
18578 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18581 @kindex c (Category)
18582 @findex gnus-category-copy
18583 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18586 @kindex a (Category)
18587 @findex gnus-category-add
18588 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18591 @kindex p (Category)
18592 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18593 Edit the predicate of the current category
18594 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18597 @kindex g (Category)
18598 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18599 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18600 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18603 @kindex s (Category)
18604 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18605 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18606 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18609 @kindex l (Category)
18610 @findex gnus-category-list
18611 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18615 @node Category Variables
18616 @subsubsection Category Variables
18619 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18620 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18621 Hook run in category buffers.
18623 @item gnus-category-line-format
18624 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18625 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18626 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18630 The name of the category.
18633 The number of groups in the category.
18636 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18637 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18638 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18640 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18641 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18642 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18644 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18645 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18646 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18648 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18649 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18650 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18653 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18654 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18655 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18658 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18659 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18660 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18661 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18662 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18663 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18664 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18665 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18669 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18670 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18671 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18672 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18673 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18674 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18675 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18680 @node Agent Commands
18681 @subsection Agent Commands
18682 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18683 @kindex J j (Agent)
18685 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18686 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18687 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18691 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18692 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18693 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18699 @node Group Agent Commands
18700 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18704 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18705 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18706 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18707 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18710 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18711 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18712 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18715 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18716 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18717 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18718 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18721 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18722 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18723 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18724 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18727 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18728 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18729 Add the current group to an Agent category
18730 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18731 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18734 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18735 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18736 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18737 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18738 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18741 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18742 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18743 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18749 @node Summary Agent Commands
18750 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18754 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18755 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18756 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18759 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18760 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18761 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18762 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18766 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18767 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18768 Toggle whether to download the article
18769 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18773 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18774 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18775 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18778 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18779 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18780 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18781 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18784 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18785 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18786 Download all processable articles in this group.
18787 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18790 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18791 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18792 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18793 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18798 @node Server Agent Commands
18799 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18803 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18804 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18805 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18806 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18809 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18810 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18811 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18812 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18817 @node Agent Visuals
18818 @subsection Agent Visuals
18820 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18821 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18822 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18823 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18824 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18825 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18826 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18827 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18828 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18829 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18831 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18832 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18833 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18834 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18835 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18836 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18837 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18838 articles will be available when unplugged.
18840 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18841 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18842 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18843 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18844 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18845 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18846 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18847 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18849 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18850 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18851 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18852 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18853 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18854 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18855 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18856 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18857 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18859 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18860 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18861 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18862 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18863 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18864 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18865 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18866 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18867 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18868 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18870 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18871 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18872 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
18873 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
18874 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
18875 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18877 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18878 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18879 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18880 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18881 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18882 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18883 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18884 expiring'' articles.
18886 @node Agent as Cache
18887 @subsection Agent as Cache
18889 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18890 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18891 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18892 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18893 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18894 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18895 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18896 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18897 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18899 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18900 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18901 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18902 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18903 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18906 @subsection Agent Expiry
18908 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18909 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18910 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18911 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18912 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18913 @cindex agent expiry
18914 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18915 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
18917 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18918 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18919 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18920 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18921 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18922 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18923 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18924 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18926 Note that other functions might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you
18927 to keep the agent synchronized with the group.
18929 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18930 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18932 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18933 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18934 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18935 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18936 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18937 be kept indefinitely.
18939 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18940 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18941 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18942 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18944 @node Agent Regeneration
18945 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18947 @cindex agent regeneration
18948 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18949 @cindex regeneration
18951 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18952 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18953 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18954 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18955 internal inconsistencies.
18957 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18958 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18959 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18960 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18961 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18962 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18964 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18965 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18966 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18967 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18968 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18969 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18971 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18972 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18973 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18974 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18975 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18976 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18979 @node Agent and flags
18980 @subsection Agent and flags
18982 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
18983 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
18984 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
18985 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
18986 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
18987 to the flags in its own files.
18989 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
18990 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
18991 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18993 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18994 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18995 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18996 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18997 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18998 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19000 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19001 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19002 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19003 in the group buffer.
19005 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19006 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19007 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19008 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19009 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19010 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19011 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19012 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19014 @node Agent and IMAP
19015 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19017 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19018 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19019 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19020 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19022 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19023 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19028 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19031 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19035 @node Outgoing Messages
19036 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19038 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19039 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19040 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19042 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19043 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19044 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19046 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19047 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19048 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19049 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19052 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19053 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19054 ask you to confirm your action (see
19055 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19057 @node Agent Variables
19058 @subsection Agent Variables
19063 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19064 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19065 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19066 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19068 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19069 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19072 @item gnus-agent-directory
19073 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19074 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19075 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19077 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19078 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19079 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19080 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19081 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19084 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19085 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19086 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19088 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19089 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19090 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19092 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19093 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19094 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19096 @item gnus-agent-cache
19097 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19098 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19099 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19100 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19102 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19103 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19104 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19105 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19106 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19107 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19108 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19111 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19112 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19113 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19114 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19115 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19116 read. The default is @code{t}.
19118 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19119 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19120 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19121 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19122 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19123 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19124 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19126 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19127 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19128 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19129 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19130 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19131 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19132 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19133 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19134 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19135 over and over again.
19137 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19138 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19139 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19140 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19141 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19142 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19143 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19144 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19145 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19146 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19147 However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be
19148 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19151 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19152 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19153 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19154 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19155 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19156 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19157 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19158 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19159 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19161 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19162 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19163 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19164 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19165 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19166 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19168 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19169 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19170 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19171 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19172 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19174 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19175 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19176 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19177 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19178 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19179 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19181 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19182 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19183 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19184 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19185 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19187 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19188 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19189 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19190 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19191 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19192 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19193 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19194 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19195 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19196 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19197 start Gnus. The default is @samp{nil}.
19202 @node Example Setup
19203 @subsection Example Setup
19205 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19206 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19207 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19210 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19211 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19212 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19214 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19215 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19216 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19218 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19219 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19221 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19222 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19223 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19226 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19227 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19230 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19231 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19232 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19233 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19234 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19237 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19238 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19239 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19240 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19241 back all the killed groups.)
19243 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19244 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19245 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19248 @node Batching Agents
19249 @subsection Batching Agents
19250 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19252 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19253 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19254 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19256 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19257 following incantation:
19261 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19265 @node Agent Caveats
19266 @subsection Agent Caveats
19268 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19269 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19273 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19275 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19276 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19277 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19279 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19280 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19282 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19286 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19287 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19288 locally stored articles.
19295 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19296 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19297 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19300 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19301 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19302 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19303 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19304 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19306 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19307 before generating the summary buffer.
19309 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19310 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19311 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19313 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19314 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19315 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19316 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19319 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19320 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19321 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19322 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19323 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19324 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19325 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19326 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19327 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19328 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19329 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19330 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19331 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19332 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19333 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19334 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19338 @node Summary Score Commands
19339 @section Summary Score Commands
19340 @cindex score commands
19342 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19343 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19344 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19345 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19346 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19348 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19349 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19350 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19351 score file the current one.
19353 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19358 @kindex V s (Summary)
19359 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19360 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19363 @kindex V S (Summary)
19364 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19365 Display the score of the current article
19366 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19369 @kindex V t (Summary)
19370 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19371 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19372 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19373 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19374 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19375 score file and edit it.
19378 @kindex V w (Summary)
19379 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19380 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19383 @kindex V R (Summary)
19384 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19385 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19386 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19387 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19388 effect you're having.
19391 @kindex V c (Summary)
19392 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19393 Make a different score file the current
19394 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19397 @kindex V e (Summary)
19398 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19399 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19400 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19404 @kindex V f (Summary)
19405 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19406 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19407 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19410 @kindex V F (Summary)
19411 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19412 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19413 after editing score files.
19416 @kindex V C (Summary)
19417 @findex gnus-score-customize
19418 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19419 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19423 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19428 @kindex V m (Summary)
19429 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19430 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19431 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19434 @kindex V x (Summary)
19435 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19436 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19437 expunge all articles below this score
19438 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19441 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19442 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19445 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19446 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19450 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19451 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19453 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19454 keys are available:
19458 Score on the author name.
19461 Score on the subject line.
19464 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19467 Score on the @code{References} line.
19473 Score on the number of lines.
19476 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19479 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19480 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19483 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19484 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19485 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19494 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19500 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19501 what headers you are scoring on.
19513 Substring matching.
19516 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19545 Greater than number.
19550 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19551 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19552 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19557 Temporary score entry.
19560 Permanent score entry.
19563 Immediately scoring.
19567 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19568 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19569 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19573 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19574 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19575 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19576 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19578 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19579 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19580 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19581 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19582 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19584 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19585 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19586 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19587 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19588 current score file.
19590 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19591 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19592 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19595 @node Group Score Commands
19596 @section Group Score Commands
19597 @cindex group score commands
19599 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19604 @kindex W e (Group)
19605 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19606 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19607 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19610 @kindex W f (Group)
19611 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19612 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19613 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19614 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19618 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19620 @findex gnus-batch-score
19621 @cindex batch scoring
19623 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19627 @node Score Variables
19628 @section Score Variables
19629 @cindex score variables
19633 @item gnus-use-scoring
19634 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19635 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19636 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19638 @item gnus-kill-killed
19639 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19640 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19641 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19642 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19643 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19644 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19645 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19647 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19648 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19649 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19650 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19651 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19653 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19654 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19655 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19656 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19658 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19659 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19660 @cindex score cache
19661 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19662 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
19663 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19664 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19665 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19666 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19667 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19670 @item gnus-save-score
19671 @vindex gnus-save-score
19672 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19673 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19674 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19676 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19677 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19678 across group visits.
19680 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19681 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19682 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19683 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19684 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19685 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19686 manually entered data.
19688 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19689 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19690 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19692 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19693 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19694 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19695 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19696 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19697 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19699 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19700 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19701 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19702 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19704 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19705 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19706 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19707 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19709 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19710 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19711 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19712 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19714 Predefined functions available are:
19717 @item gnus-score-find-single
19718 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19719 Only apply the group's own score file.
19721 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19722 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19723 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19724 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19725 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19726 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19727 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19728 then a regexp match is done.
19730 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19731 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19733 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19734 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19735 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19736 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19738 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19739 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19740 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19741 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19742 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19746 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19747 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19748 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19749 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19750 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19751 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19752 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19755 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19756 overall score file, you could use the value
19758 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19759 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19762 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19763 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19764 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19765 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19766 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19768 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19769 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19770 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19771 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19772 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19773 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19774 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19775 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19777 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19778 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19779 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19781 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19782 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19783 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19784 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19785 threading---according to the current value of
19786 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19787 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19788 simplified in this manner.
19793 @node Score File Format
19794 @section Score File Format
19795 @cindex score file format
19797 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19798 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19799 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19801 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19805 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19807 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19809 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19811 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19816 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19820 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19821 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19822 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19823 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19827 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19828 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19830 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19831 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19832 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19834 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19839 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19840 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19841 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19842 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19843 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19844 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19845 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19846 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19847 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19848 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19849 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19850 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19851 to articles that matches these score entries.
19853 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19854 score entry has one to four elements.
19858 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19859 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19863 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19864 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19865 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19866 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19867 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19868 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19871 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19872 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19873 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19874 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19875 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19878 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19879 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19880 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19881 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19884 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19885 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19886 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19887 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19888 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19889 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19890 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19891 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19892 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19893 instead, if you feel like.
19896 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19897 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19898 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19899 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19900 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19901 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19905 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19906 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19910 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19911 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19913 These predicates are true if
19916 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19919 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19920 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19927 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19928 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19929 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19930 it's not. I think.)
19932 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19933 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19934 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19935 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19938 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19939 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19940 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19941 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19942 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19943 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19944 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19948 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19949 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19950 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19951 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19952 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19953 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19954 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19955 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19958 @item Head, Body, All
19959 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19963 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19964 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19965 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19966 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19967 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19968 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19969 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19973 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19974 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19975 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19976 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19977 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19978 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19979 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19980 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19981 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19982 nondeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19983 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19987 @cindex score file atoms
19989 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19990 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19993 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19994 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19996 @item mark-and-expunge
19997 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19998 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20001 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20002 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20003 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20004 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20005 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20008 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20009 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20012 @item exclude-files
20013 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20014 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20018 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
20019 ignored when handling global score files.
20022 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20023 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20024 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20025 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20028 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20029 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20030 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20031 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20033 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20037 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20040 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20041 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20042 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
20043 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20044 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20046 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20047 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20048 scoring rules exist.
20051 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20052 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20053 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20054 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20055 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20056 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20057 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20058 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20059 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20060 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20061 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20065 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20066 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20067 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20068 file for a number of groups.
20071 @cindex local variables
20072 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20073 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20074 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20075 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20076 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20081 @node Score File Editing
20082 @section Score File Editing
20084 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20085 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20086 with a mode for that.
20088 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20089 additional commands:
20094 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20095 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20096 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20097 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20100 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20101 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20102 Insert the current date in numerical format
20103 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20104 you were wondering.
20107 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20108 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20109 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20110 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20111 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20116 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20118 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20119 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20121 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20122 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20125 @node Adaptive Scoring
20126 @section Adaptive Scoring
20127 @cindex adaptive scoring
20129 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20130 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20131 stupidity, to be precise.
20133 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20134 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20135 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20136 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20137 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20138 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20139 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20140 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20141 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20143 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20144 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20145 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20146 might look something like this:
20149 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20150 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20151 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20152 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20153 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20154 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20155 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20156 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20157 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20158 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20159 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20160 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20163 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20164 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20165 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20166 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20167 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20168 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20171 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20172 will be applied to each article.
20174 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20175 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20176 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20177 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20179 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20180 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20181 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20182 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20184 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20185 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20186 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20187 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20189 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20190 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20191 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20192 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20193 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20194 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20196 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20197 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20198 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20200 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20201 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20202 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20204 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20205 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20206 let you use different rules in different groups.
20208 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20209 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20210 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20213 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20214 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20215 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20216 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20218 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20219 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20220 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20221 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20222 the length of the match is less than
20223 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20224 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20227 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20228 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20229 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20230 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20231 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20234 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20235 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20236 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20237 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20238 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20241 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20242 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20243 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20244 score with 30 points.
20246 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20247 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20248 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20249 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20250 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20252 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20253 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20254 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20255 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20256 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20258 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20259 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20260 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20261 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20263 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20264 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20265 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20266 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20268 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20269 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20270 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20271 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20272 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20274 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20275 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20276 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20278 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20279 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20280 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20281 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20284 @node Home Score File
20285 @section Home Score File
20287 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20288 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20289 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20290 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20292 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20293 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20294 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20296 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20297 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20302 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20306 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20307 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20311 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20315 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20316 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20319 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20320 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20321 name of the group as the parameter.
20324 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20327 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20332 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20335 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20336 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20339 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20340 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20342 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20344 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20345 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20348 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20349 Other functions include
20352 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20353 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20354 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20355 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20359 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20360 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20361 their own home score files:
20364 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20365 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20366 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20367 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20368 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20371 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20372 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20373 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20374 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20375 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20377 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20378 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20379 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20380 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20381 precedence over this variable.
20384 @node Followups To Yourself
20385 @section Followups To Yourself
20387 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20388 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20389 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20390 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20391 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20392 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20396 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20397 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20398 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20401 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20402 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20403 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20407 @vindex message-sent-hook
20408 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20409 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20411 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20415 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20416 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20420 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20421 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20424 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20425 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20430 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20434 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20435 is system-dependent.
20438 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20439 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20440 @cindex scoring on other headers
20442 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20443 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20444 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20445 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20446 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20448 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
20449 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
20450 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
20451 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
20452 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
20453 inhibited for all groups.
20455 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
20456 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20457 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20458 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20459 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20461 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20464 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20465 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20468 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20469 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20470 time if you have much mail.
20472 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20473 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20479 @section Scoring Tips
20480 @cindex scoring tips
20486 @cindex scoring crossposts
20487 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20488 the @code{Xref} header.
20490 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20493 @item Multiple crossposts
20494 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20495 more than, say, 3 groups:
20498 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20502 @item Matching on the body
20503 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20504 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20505 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20506 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20507 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20508 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20509 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20512 @item Marking as read
20513 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20514 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20515 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20519 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20521 @item Negated character classes
20522 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20523 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20524 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20528 @node Reverse Scoring
20529 @section Reverse Scoring
20530 @cindex reverse scoring
20532 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20533 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20534 like this in your score file:
20538 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20543 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20544 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20547 @node Global Score Files
20548 @section Global Score Files
20549 @cindex global score files
20551 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20552 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20553 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20555 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20556 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20557 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20559 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20560 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20561 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20562 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20563 files are applicable to which group.
20565 To use the score file
20566 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20567 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20571 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20572 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20573 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20576 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20578 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20579 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20580 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20581 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20583 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20584 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20586 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20587 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20588 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20589 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20590 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20591 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20593 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20599 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20601 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20603 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20605 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20606 lowered out of existence.
20608 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20609 articles completely.
20612 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20613 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20614 old articles for a long time.
20617 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20618 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20619 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20620 holding our breath yet?
20624 @section Kill Files
20627 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20628 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20629 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20631 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20632 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20633 files into score files.
20635 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20636 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20637 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20638 that isn't a very good idea.
20640 Normal kill files look like this:
20643 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20644 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20648 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20649 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20651 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20652 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20655 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20660 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20661 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20662 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20665 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20666 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20667 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20670 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20675 @kindex M-k (Group)
20676 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20677 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20680 @kindex M-K (Group)
20681 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20682 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20685 Kill file variables:
20688 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20689 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20690 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20691 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20692 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20693 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20694 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20696 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20697 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20698 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20699 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20702 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20703 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20704 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20705 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20706 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20707 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20708 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20709 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20710 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20712 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20713 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20714 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20719 @node Converting Kill Files
20720 @section Converting Kill Files
20722 @cindex converting kill files
20724 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20725 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20726 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20729 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
20730 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
20732 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20734 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20735 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20736 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20740 @node Advanced Scoring
20741 @section Advanced Scoring
20743 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20744 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20745 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20746 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20747 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20749 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20753 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20754 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20755 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20759 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20760 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20762 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20763 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20764 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20765 non-@code{nil} value.
20767 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20768 operator, and various match operators.
20775 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20776 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20777 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20782 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20783 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20784 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20789 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20790 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20794 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20795 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20796 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20797 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20798 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20799 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20800 the ancestry you want to go.
20802 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20803 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20804 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20805 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20806 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20809 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20810 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20812 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20813 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20816 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20817 when he's talking about Gnus:
20822 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20823 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20830 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20834 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20841 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20842 really don't want to read what he's written:
20846 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20847 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
20851 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20852 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20853 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20860 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20861 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20862 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20863 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20867 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
20868 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
20869 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
20870 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
20873 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20875 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20879 The possibilities are endless.
20881 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20882 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20884 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20885 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20886 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20887 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20888 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20889 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20890 @samp{subject}) first.
20892 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20893 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20904 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20905 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20911 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20918 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20919 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20924 @section Score Decays
20925 @cindex score decays
20928 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20929 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20930 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20931 use them in any sensible way.
20933 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20934 @findex gnus-decay-score
20935 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20936 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20937 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20938 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20939 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20940 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
20941 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
20942 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
20943 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
20944 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
20948 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20949 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20950 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20952 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20954 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20956 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20957 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20958 ;; XEmacs's floor can handle only the floating point
20959 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20960 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20962 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20966 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20967 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20968 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20969 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20973 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20976 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20979 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20983 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20984 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20985 the new score, which should be an integer.
20987 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20988 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20994 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
20995 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
20998 This chapter describes tools for searching groups and servers for
20999 articles matching a query and then retrieving those articles. Gnus
21000 provides a simpler mechanism for searching through articles in a summary buffer
21001 to find those matching a pattern. @xref{Searching for Articles}.
21004 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
21005 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
21012 This section describes how to use @code{nnir} to search for articles
21016 * What is nnir?:: What does @code{nnir} do?
21017 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
21018 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up @code{nnir}.
21021 @node What is nnir?
21022 @subsection What is nnir?
21024 @code{nnir} is a Gnus interface to a number of tools for searching
21025 through mail and news repositories. Different backends (like
21026 @code{nnimap} and @code{nntp}) work with different tools (called
21027 @dfn{engines} in @code{nnir} lingo), but all use the same basic search
21030 The @code{nnimap} and @code{gmane} search engines should work with no
21031 configuration. Other engines require a local index that needs to be
21032 created and maintained outside of Gnus.
21036 @subsection Basic Usage
21038 In the group buffer typing @kbd{G G} will search the group on the
21039 current line by calling @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. This prompts
21040 for a query string, creates an ephemeral @code{nnir} group containing
21041 the articles that match this query, and takes you to a summary buffer
21042 showing these articles. Articles may then be read, moved and deleted
21043 using the usual commands.
21045 The @code{nnir} group made in this way is an @code{ephemeral} group, and
21046 some changes are not permanent: aside from reading, moving, and
21047 deleting, you can't act on the original article. But there is an
21048 alternative: you can @emph{warp} to the original group for the article
21049 on the current line with @kbd{A W}, aka
21050 @code{gnus-warp-to-article}. Even better, the function
21051 @code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}, bound by default in summary buffers to
21052 @kbd{A T}, will first warp to the original group before it works its
21053 magic and includes all the articles in the thread. From here you can
21054 read, move and delete articles, but also copy them, alter article marks,
21057 You say you want to search more than just the group on the current line?
21058 No problem: just process-mark the groups you want to search. You want
21059 even more? Calling for an nnir search with the cursor on a topic heading
21060 will search all the groups under that heading.
21062 Still not enough? OK, in the server buffer
21063 @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group} (now bound to @kbd{G}) will search all
21064 groups from the server on the current line. Too much? Want to ignore
21065 certain groups when searching, like spam groups? Just customize
21066 @code{nnir-ignored-newsgroups}.
21068 One more thing: individual search engines may have special search
21069 features. You can access these special features by giving a prefix-arg
21070 to @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. If you are searching multiple
21071 groups with different search engines you will be prompted for the
21072 special search features for each engine separately.
21075 @node Setting up nnir
21076 @subsection Setting up nnir
21078 To set up nnir you may need to do some prep work. Firstly, you may need
21079 to configure the search engines you plan to use. Some of them, like
21080 @code{imap} and @code{gmane}, need no special configuration. Others,
21081 like @code{namazu} and @code{swish}, require configuration as described
21082 below. Secondly, you need to associate a search engine with a server or
21085 If you just want to use the @code{imap} engine to search @code{nnimap}
21086 servers, and the @code{gmane} engine to search @code{gmane} then you
21087 don't have to do anything. But you might want to read the details of the
21088 query language anyway.
21091 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
21092 * The imap Engine:: Imap configuration and usage.
21093 * The gmane Engine:: Gmane configuration and usage.
21094 * The swish++ Engine:: Swish++ configuration and usage.
21095 * The swish-e Engine:: Swish-e configuration and usage.
21096 * The namazu Engine:: Namazu configuration and usage.
21097 * The hyrex Engine:: Hyrex configuration and usage.
21098 * Customizations:: User customizable settings.
21101 @node Associating Engines
21102 @subsubsection Associating Engines
21105 When searching a group, @code{nnir} needs to know which search engine to
21106 use. You can configure a given server to use a particular engine by
21107 setting the server variable @code{nnir-search-engine} to the engine
21108 name. For example to use the @code{namazu} engine to search the server
21109 named @code{home} you can use
21112 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
21114 (nnimap-address "localhost")
21115 (nnir-search-engine namazu))))
21118 Alternatively you might want to use a particular engine for all servers
21119 with a given backend. For example, you might want to use the @code{imap}
21120 engine for all servers using the @code{nnimap} backend. In this case you
21121 can customize the variable @code{nnir-method-default-engines}. This is
21122 an alist of pairs of the form @code{(backend . engine)}. By default this
21123 variable is set to use the @code{imap} engine for all servers using the
21124 @code{nnimap} backend, and the @code{gmane} backend for @code{nntp}
21125 servers. (Don't worry, the @code{gmane} search engine won't actually try
21126 to search non-gmane @code{nntp} servers.) But if you wanted to use
21127 @code{namazu} for all your servers with an @code{nnimap} backend you
21128 could change this to
21131 '((nnimap . namazu)
21135 @node The imap Engine
21136 @subsubsection The imap Engine
21138 The @code{imap} engine requires no configuration.
21140 Queries using the @code{imap} engine follow a simple query language.
21141 The search is always case-insensitive and supports the following
21142 features (inspired by the Google search input language):
21146 @item Boolean query operators
21147 AND, OR, and NOT are supported, and parentheses can be used to control
21148 operator precedence, e.g. (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux. Note that
21149 operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21150 recognized. Also preceding a term with a - sign is equivalent to NOT
21153 @item Automatic AND queries
21154 If you specify multiple words then they will be treated as an AND
21155 expression intended to match all components.
21157 @item Phrase searches
21158 If you wrap your query in double-quotes then it will be treated as a
21163 By default the whole message will be searched. The query can be limited
21164 to a specific part of a message by using a prefix-arg. After inputting
21165 the query this will prompt (with completion) for a message part.
21166 Choices include ``Whole message'', ``Subject'', ``From'', and
21167 ``To''. Any unrecognized input is interpreted as a header name. For
21168 example, typing @kbd{Message-ID} in response to this prompt will limit
21169 the query to the Message-ID header.
21171 Finally selecting ``Imap'' will interpret the query as a raw
21172 @acronym{IMAP} search query. The format of such queries can be found in
21175 If you don't like the default of searching whole messages you can
21176 customize @code{nnir-imap-default-search-key}. For example to use
21177 @acronym{IMAP} queries by default
21180 (setq nnir-imap-default-search-key "Imap")
21183 @node The gmane Engine
21184 @subsubsection The gmane Engine
21186 The @code{gmane} engine requires no configuration.
21188 Gmane queries follow a simple query language:
21191 @item Boolean query operators
21192 AND, OR, NOT (or AND NOT), and XOR are supported, and brackets can be
21193 used to control operator precedence, e.g. (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux.
21194 Note that operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21197 @item Required and excluded terms
21198 + and - can be used to require or exclude terms, e.g. football -american
21200 @item Unicode handling
21201 The search engine converts all text to utf-8, so searching should work
21205 Common English words (like 'the' and 'a') are ignored by default. You
21206 can override this by prefixing such words with a + (e.g. +the) or
21207 enclosing the word in quotes (e.g. "the").
21211 The query can be limited to articles by a specific author using a
21212 prefix-arg. After inputting the query this will prompt for an author
21213 name (or part of a name) to match.
21215 @node The swish++ Engine
21216 @subsubsection The swish++ Engine
21218 FIXME: Say something more here.
21220 Documentation for swish++ may be found at the swish++ sourceforge page:
21221 @uref{http://swishplusplus.sourceforge.net}
21225 @item nnir-swish++-program
21226 The name of the swish++ executable. Defaults to @code{search}
21228 @item nnir-swish++-additional-switches
21229 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21230 swish++. @code{nil} by default.
21232 @item nnir-swish++-remove-prefix
21233 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish++ in order
21234 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21238 @node The swish-e Engine
21239 @subsubsection The swish-e Engine
21241 FIXME: Say something more here.
21243 Documentation for swish-e may be found at the swish-e homepage
21244 @uref{http://swish-e.org}
21248 @item nnir-swish-e-program
21249 The name of the swish-e search program. Defaults to @code{swish-e}.
21251 @item nnir-swish-e-additional-switches
21252 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21253 swish-e. @code{nil} by default.
21255 @item nnir-swish-e-remove-prefix
21256 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish-e in order
21257 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21261 @node The namazu Engine
21262 @subsubsection The namazu Engine
21264 Using the namazu engine requires creating and maintaining index files.
21265 One directory should contain all the index files, and nnir must be told
21266 where to find them by setting the @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory}
21269 To work correctly the @code{nnir-namazu-remove-prefix} variable must
21270 also be correct. This is the prefix to remove from each file name
21271 returned by Namazu in order to get a proper group name (albeit with `/'
21274 For example, suppose that Namazu returns file names such as
21275 @samp{/home/john/Mail/mail/misc/42}. For this example, use the
21276 following setting: @code{(setq nnir-namazu-remove-prefix
21277 "/home/john/Mail/")} Note the trailing slash. Removing this prefix from
21278 the directory gives @samp{mail/misc/42}. @code{nnir} knows to remove
21279 the @samp{/42} and to replace @samp{/} with @samp{.} to arrive at the
21280 correct group name @samp{mail.misc}.
21282 Extra switches may be passed to the namazu search command by setting the
21283 variable @code{nnir-namazu-additional-switches}. It is particularly
21284 important not to pass any any switches to namazu that will change the
21285 output format. Good switches to use include `--sort', `--ascending',
21286 `--early' and `--late'. Refer to the Namazu documentation for further
21287 information on valid switches.
21289 Mail must first be indexed with the `mknmz' program. Read the documentation
21290 for namazu to create a configuration file. Here is an example:
21294 package conf; # Don't remove this line!
21296 # Paths which will not be indexed. Don't use `^' or `$' anchors.
21297 $EXCLUDE_PATH = "spam|sent";
21299 # Header fields which should be searchable. case-insensitive
21300 $REMAIN_HEADER = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21302 # Searchable fields. case-insensitive
21303 $SEARCH_FIELD = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21305 # The max length of a word.
21306 $WORD_LENG_MAX = 128;
21308 # The max length of a field.
21309 $MAX_FIELD_LENGTH = 256;
21313 For this example, mail is stored in the directories @samp{~/Mail/mail/},
21314 @samp{~/Mail/lists/} and @samp{~/Mail/archive/}, so to index them go to
21315 the index directory set in @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory} and issue
21316 the following command:
21319 mknmz --mailnews ~/Mail/archive/ ~/Mail/mail/ ~/Mail/lists/
21322 For maximum searching efficiency you might want to have a cron job run
21323 this command periodically, say every four hours.
21325 @node The hyrex Engine
21326 @subsubsection The hyrex Engine
21327 This engine is obsolete.
21329 @node Customizations
21330 @subsubsection Customizations
21334 @item nnir-method-default-engines
21335 Alist of server backend - search engine pairs. The default associations
21342 @item nnir-ignored-newsgroups
21343 A regexp to match newsgroups in the active file that should be skipped
21344 when searching all groups on a server.
21346 @item nnir-summary-line-format
21347 The format specification to be used for lines in an nnir summary buffer.
21348 All the items from `gnus-summary-line-format' are available, along with
21349 three items unique to nnir summary buffers:
21352 %Z Search retrieval score value (integer)
21353 %G Article original full group name (string)
21354 %g Article original short group name (string)
21357 If nil (the default) this will use @code{gnus-summary-line-format}.
21359 @item nnir-retrieve-headers-override-function
21360 If non-nil, a function that retrieves article headers rather than using
21361 the gnus built-in function. This function takes an article list and
21362 group as arguments and populates the `nntp-server-buffer' with the
21363 retrieved headers. It should then return either 'nov or 'headers
21364 indicating the retrieved header format. Failure to retrieve headers
21365 should return @code{nil}
21367 If this variable is nil, or if the provided function returns nil for a
21368 search result, @code{gnus-retrieve-headers} will be called instead."
21379 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
21380 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
21381 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
21382 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
21385 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
21386 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
21387 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
21388 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
21389 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
21390 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
21391 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
21392 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
21393 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
21396 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
21397 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
21398 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
21401 @subsection About mairix
21403 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
21404 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
21405 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
21406 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
21408 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
21410 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
21411 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
21412 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
21413 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
21414 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
21415 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
21416 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
21417 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
21420 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
21421 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
21422 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
21423 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
21424 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
21425 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
21426 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
21427 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
21430 @node nnmairix requirements
21431 @subsection nnmairix requirements
21433 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
21434 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
21435 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
21436 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
21438 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
21439 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
21440 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
21441 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
21443 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
21444 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
21445 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
21446 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
21447 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
21448 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
21450 @node What nnmairix does
21451 @subsection What nnmairix does
21453 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
21454 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
21455 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
21456 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
21457 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
21458 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
21459 mails are in different folders.
21461 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
21462 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
21463 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
21464 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
21465 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
21466 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
21468 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
21469 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
21470 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
21471 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
21472 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
21473 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
21474 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
21475 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
21476 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
21477 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
21478 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
21480 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
21481 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
21482 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
21483 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
21484 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
21485 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
21486 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
21487 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
21488 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
21489 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
21490 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
21491 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
21492 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
21493 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
21494 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
21495 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
21497 @node Setting up mairix
21498 @subsection Setting up mairix
21500 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
21502 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
21503 (at least) the following entries:
21506 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
21510 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
21511 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
21512 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
21513 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
21516 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
21517 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
21518 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
21521 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
21522 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
21523 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
21524 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
21525 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
21531 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
21532 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
21533 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
21534 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
21537 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
21538 database= ... location of database file ...
21541 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
21542 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
21543 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
21545 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
21549 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
21550 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
21551 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
21554 database=~/.mairixdatabase
21557 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
21558 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
21559 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
21560 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
21561 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
21562 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
21563 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
21564 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
21565 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
21566 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
21567 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
21568 The other lines should be obvious.
21570 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
21571 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
21572 than you are used to.
21574 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
21575 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
21576 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
21578 @node Configuring nnmairix
21579 @subsection Configuring nnmairix
21581 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
21582 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
21583 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
21584 server. You will have to specify the following:
21589 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
21593 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
21594 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
21595 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
21596 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
21597 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
21598 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
21599 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
21600 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
21601 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
21602 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
21603 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might lose mail
21604 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
21605 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
21606 @code{nnimap} server here.
21609 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
21610 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
21611 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
21612 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
21613 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
21614 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
21615 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
21618 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
21619 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
21620 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
21624 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
21625 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
21626 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
21627 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
21628 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
21632 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21633 @subsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21640 @kindex G b c (Group)
21641 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
21642 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
21643 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
21644 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
21647 @kindex G b s (Group)
21648 @findex nnmairix-search
21649 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
21650 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
21651 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
21654 @kindex G b m (Group)
21655 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
21656 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
21657 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
21658 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
21661 @kindex G b i (Group)
21662 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
21663 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
21664 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
21667 @kindex G b g (Group)
21668 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
21669 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
21670 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
21671 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
21675 @kindex G b q (Group)
21676 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
21677 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
21678 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
21681 @kindex G b t (Group)
21682 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
21683 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
21684 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
21685 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
21688 @kindex G b u (Group)
21689 @findex nnmairix-update-database
21690 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
21691 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
21692 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
21693 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
21694 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
21698 @kindex G b r (Group)
21699 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
21700 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
21701 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
21704 @kindex G b d (Group)
21705 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
21706 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
21707 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
21708 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
21711 @kindex G b a (Group)
21712 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
21713 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
21714 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
21715 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
21716 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
21717 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
21718 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
21719 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
21720 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
21723 @kindex G b p (Group)
21724 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
21725 Toggle marks propagation for this group
21726 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
21730 @kindex G b o (Group)
21731 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
21732 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
21733 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
21742 @kindex $ m (Summary)
21743 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
21744 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
21745 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
21746 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
21749 @kindex $ g (Summary)
21750 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
21751 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
21752 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
21753 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
21756 @kindex $ t (Summary)
21757 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
21758 Searches thread for the current article
21759 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
21760 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
21761 current article and enabled threads.
21764 @kindex $ f (Summary)
21765 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
21766 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
21767 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
21768 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
21771 @kindex $ o (Summary)
21772 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
21773 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
21774 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
21775 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
21776 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
21777 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
21778 article file name as a fallback method.
21781 @kindex $ u (Summary)
21782 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
21783 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
21784 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
21789 @node Propagating marks
21790 @subsection Propagating marks
21792 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
21793 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
21794 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
21796 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
21798 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
21799 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
21800 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
21801 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
21804 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
21805 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
21806 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
21807 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
21808 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
21809 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
21810 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
21811 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
21812 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
21813 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
21815 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
21816 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
21817 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
21818 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
21819 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
21820 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
21821 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
21823 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
21824 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
21825 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
21826 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
21827 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
21828 even more cumbersome.
21830 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
21831 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
21832 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
21834 Marks propagation is inactive by default. You can activate it for a
21835 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
21836 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
21837 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
21838 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
21839 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
21840 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
21842 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
21843 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
21844 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
21845 magically be set for the original article, too.
21847 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
21849 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
21850 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
21851 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
21852 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
21853 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
21854 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
21857 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
21858 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
21859 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
21860 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
21861 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
21862 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
21863 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
21865 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
21866 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
21867 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
21868 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
21869 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
21870 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
21871 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
21873 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
21874 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
21875 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
21876 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
21877 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
21878 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
21879 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
21880 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
21881 maildir as its file format.
21883 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
21884 If you work with this setup, just set
21885 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
21886 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
21887 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
21888 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
21889 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
21890 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
21892 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
21893 @subsection nnmairix tips and tricks
21899 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
21900 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
21901 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
21904 I use the following to check for mails:
21907 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
21909 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
21910 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
21911 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
21912 (gnus-group-list-groups))
21914 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
21917 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
21918 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
21922 Example: search group for ticked articles
21924 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
21925 articles always stay unread:
21927 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
21928 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
21930 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
21931 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
21933 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
21934 group? There are two options: You may simply use
21935 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
21936 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
21937 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
21938 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
21939 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
21940 e.g. by marking an article as read.
21942 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
21943 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
21944 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
21945 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
21946 snippet and the doc string for details.
21949 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
21951 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
21952 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
21953 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
21954 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
21955 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
21956 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
21957 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
21958 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
21959 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
21960 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
21961 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
21962 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
21965 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
21966 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
21971 @node nnmairix caveats
21972 @subsection nnmairix caveats
21976 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
21977 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
21978 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
21979 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
21980 an example server definition:
21983 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
21986 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variable
21987 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
21988 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
21992 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
21993 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
21994 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}; this is the default). Be
21995 @emph{extra careful} if you use
21996 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are split
21997 into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as you
21998 check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
22001 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
22002 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
22005 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
22006 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
22009 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
22012 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
22013 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
22014 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
22015 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
22016 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
22017 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
22021 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
22022 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
22023 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
22024 it is gone for good.
22027 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
22028 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
22029 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
22030 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
22031 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
22032 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
22033 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
22034 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
22035 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
22038 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
22039 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
22041 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
22042 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
22043 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
22044 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
22045 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
22046 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
22047 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
22048 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
22049 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
22050 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
22051 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
22052 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
22059 @include message.texi
22060 @chapter Emacs MIME
22061 @include emacs-mime.texi
22063 @include sieve.texi
22075 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22076 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22077 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22078 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22079 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22080 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22081 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22082 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22083 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22084 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22085 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22086 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22087 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22088 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22089 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22090 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22091 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22092 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22093 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22094 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22098 @node Process/Prefix
22099 @section Process/Prefix
22100 @cindex process/prefix convention
22102 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22103 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22105 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22106 command to be performed on.
22110 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22111 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22112 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22113 with the current one.
22115 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22116 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22117 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22119 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22120 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22123 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22124 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22126 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22129 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22130 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22131 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22132 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22134 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22135 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22136 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22137 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22138 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22139 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22140 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22141 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22143 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22144 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22145 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22146 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22147 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22151 @section Interactive
22152 @cindex interaction
22156 @item gnus-novice-user
22157 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22158 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22159 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22160 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22161 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22164 @item gnus-expert-user
22165 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22166 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22167 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22168 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22169 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22170 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22173 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22174 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22175 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22176 is @code{t} by default.
22178 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22179 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22180 If non-@code{nil}, require a confirmation when exiting Gnus. If
22181 @code{quiet}, update any active summary buffers automatically without
22182 querying. The default value is @code{t}.
22186 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22187 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22188 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22190 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22191 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22192 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22193 rule of 900 to the current article.
22195 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22196 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22197 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22198 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22199 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22200 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22201 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22203 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22204 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22205 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22206 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22207 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22208 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22209 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22210 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22211 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22213 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22214 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22215 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22217 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22221 @node Formatting Variables
22222 @section Formatting Variables
22223 @cindex formatting variables
22225 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22226 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22227 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22228 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22229 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22232 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22233 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22234 lots of percentages everywhere.
22237 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22238 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22239 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22240 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22241 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22242 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22243 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22244 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22247 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22248 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22249 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22250 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22251 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22252 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22253 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22254 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22256 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22257 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22259 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22260 @findex gnus-update-format
22261 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22262 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22263 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22264 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22268 @node Formatting Basics
22269 @subsection Formatting Basics
22271 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22272 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22273 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22275 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22276 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22277 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22278 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22279 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22282 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22283 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22284 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22285 less than 4 characters wide.
22287 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22288 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22291 @node Mode Line Formatting
22292 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22294 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22295 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22296 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22297 with the following two differences:
22302 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22305 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22306 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22307 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22308 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22309 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22310 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22311 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22316 @node Advanced Formatting
22317 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22319 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22320 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22321 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22322 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22324 These are the valid modifiers:
22329 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22333 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22338 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22341 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22346 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22349 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22352 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22355 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22361 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22366 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22367 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22368 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22369 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22370 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22371 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22372 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22374 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22375 last operation, padding.
22378 @node User-Defined Specs
22379 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22381 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22382 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22383 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22384 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22385 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22386 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22387 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22388 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22389 should protect against that.
22391 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22392 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22394 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22395 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22396 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22397 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22401 @node Formatting Fonts
22402 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22405 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22406 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22407 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22408 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22409 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22413 @vindex gnus-face-0
22414 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22415 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22416 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22417 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22418 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22419 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22421 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22422 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22423 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22424 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22425 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22426 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22427 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22428 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22429 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22430 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22431 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22432 (in Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22433 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22434 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22437 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22440 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22441 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22442 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22444 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22445 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22446 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22447 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22448 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22449 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22450 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22452 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22453 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22454 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22457 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22458 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22460 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22461 mode-line variables.
22463 @node Positioning Point
22464 @subsection Positioning Point
22466 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22467 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22468 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22470 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22472 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22473 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22474 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22476 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22477 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22478 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22483 @subsection Tabulation
22485 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22486 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22487 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22488 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22490 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22491 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22493 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22494 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22495 This is the soft tabulator.
22497 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22498 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22499 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22502 @node Wide Characters
22503 @subsection Wide Characters
22505 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22506 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22507 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22509 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22510 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22511 these countries, that's not true.
22513 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22514 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22515 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22516 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22520 @node Window Layout
22521 @section Window Layout
22522 @cindex window layout
22524 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22526 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22527 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22528 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22529 @code{t} by default.
22531 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22532 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22534 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22535 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22536 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22539 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)))
22540 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22544 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22545 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22546 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22547 possible names is listed below.
22549 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22550 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
22553 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22557 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22558 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22559 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22560 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22561 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22562 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22563 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22564 size spec per split.
22566 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22567 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22568 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
22569 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22570 present) gets focus.
22572 Here's a more complicated example:
22575 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22576 (summary 0.25 point)
22580 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22581 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22582 occupy, not a percentage.
22584 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22585 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22586 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22587 be used as a split.
22589 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22592 (article (horizontal 1.0
22596 (summary 0.25 point)
22600 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22601 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22603 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22604 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22605 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22606 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22607 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22609 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22610 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22611 lines from the splits.
22613 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22618 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22619 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22620 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22621 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22622 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22623 size = number | frame-params
22624 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22628 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22629 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22630 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22631 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22633 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22634 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22635 @cindex window height
22636 @cindex window width
22637 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22638 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22639 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22640 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22641 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22642 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22644 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22645 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22646 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22647 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22649 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22650 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22651 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22652 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22653 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22654 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22655 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22656 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22657 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22658 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22659 configuration list.
22662 (gnus-configure-frame
22666 (article 0.3 point))
22674 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22675 @code{frame} split:
22678 (gnus-configure-frame
22681 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22683 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22684 (user-position . t)
22685 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22690 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22691 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22692 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22693 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22694 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22695 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22696 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22697 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22699 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22700 be found in its default value.
22702 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22703 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22704 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22708 (message (horizontal 1.0
22709 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22711 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22716 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22717 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22718 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22723 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22724 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22725 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22726 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22727 (name . "Message"))
22728 (message 1.0 point))))
22731 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22732 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22733 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22734 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22735 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22738 (gnus-add-configuration
22739 '(article (vertical 1.0
22741 (summary .25 point)
22745 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22746 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22747 Gnus has been loaded.
22749 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22750 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22751 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22752 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22753 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22755 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22756 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22757 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22760 @subsection Window Configuration Names
22762 Here's a list of most of the currently known window configurations,
22763 and when they're used:
22770 Entering a group and showing only the summary.
22773 Selecting an article.
22779 Browsing groups from the server buffer.
22782 Composing a (new) message.
22785 Showing only the article buffer.
22788 Editing an article.
22791 Editing group parameters and the like.
22794 Editing a server definition.
22797 Composing a news message.
22800 Replying or following up an article without yanking the text.
22803 Forwarding a message.
22806 Replying or following up an article with yanking the text.
22809 Bouncing a message.
22812 Sending an article to an external process.
22815 Sending a bug report.
22818 Displaying the score trace.
22821 Displaying the score words.
22824 Displaying the split trace.
22826 @item compose-bounce
22827 Composing a bounce message.
22830 Previewing a @acronym{MIME} part.
22835 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22839 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22840 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22855 (gnus-add-configuration
22858 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22860 (summary 0.16 point)
22863 (gnus-add-configuration
22866 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22867 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
22873 @node Faces and Fonts
22874 @section Faces and Fonts
22879 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
22880 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
22881 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
22886 @section Mode Lines
22889 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
22890 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
22891 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
22892 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
22893 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
22894 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
22895 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
22898 @cindex display-time
22900 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
22901 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
22902 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
22903 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
22904 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
22905 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
22906 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
22907 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
22910 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
22912 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
22913 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
22915 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
22916 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
22917 (length display-time-string)))))
22920 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
22921 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
22922 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
22923 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
22924 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
22927 @node Highlighting and Menus
22928 @section Highlighting and Menus
22930 @cindex highlighting
22933 @vindex gnus-visual
22934 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
22935 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
22936 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
22939 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
22940 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
22943 @item group-highlight
22944 Do highlights in the group buffer.
22945 @item summary-highlight
22946 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
22947 @item article-highlight
22948 Do highlights in the article buffer.
22950 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
22952 Create menus in the group buffer.
22954 Create menus in the summary buffers.
22956 Create menus in the article buffer.
22958 Create menus in the browse buffer.
22960 Create menus in the server buffer.
22962 Create menus in the score buffers.
22964 Create menus in all buffers.
22967 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
22968 buffers, you could say something like:
22971 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
22974 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
22977 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
22980 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
22981 in all Gnus buffers.
22983 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
22986 @item gnus-mouse-face
22987 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22988 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
22989 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
22993 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
22997 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
22998 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
22999 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23001 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23002 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23003 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23005 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23006 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23007 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23009 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23010 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23011 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23013 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23014 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23015 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23017 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23018 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23019 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23029 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23030 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23031 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23032 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23033 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23035 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23036 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23037 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23039 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23040 been idle for thirty minutes:
23043 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23046 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23050 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23053 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23054 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23055 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23057 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23058 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23059 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23060 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23062 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23063 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23064 @var{idle} minutes.
23066 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23067 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23070 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23071 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23072 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23074 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23075 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23076 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23077 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23079 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23080 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23082 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23084 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23087 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23088 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23089 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23090 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23091 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23092 @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23093 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23094 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23095 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23096 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23098 @findex gnus-demon-init
23099 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23100 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23101 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23102 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23103 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23105 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23106 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23107 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23115 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23116 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23117 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23119 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23120 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23121 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23122 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23123 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23124 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23125 @code{undo} function.
23127 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23128 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23129 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23130 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23131 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23132 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23133 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23134 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23135 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23136 never be totally undoable.
23138 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23139 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23141 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23142 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23143 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23144 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23148 @node Predicate Specifiers
23149 @section Predicate Specifiers
23150 @cindex predicate specifiers
23152 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23153 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23154 to type all that much.
23156 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23161 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23162 gnus-article-unread-p)
23165 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23166 functions all take one parameter.
23168 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23169 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23170 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23171 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23176 @section Moderation
23179 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23180 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23181 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23184 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23188 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23191 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23193 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23198 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23199 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23200 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23203 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23204 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23207 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23208 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23212 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23215 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23216 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23220 @node Fetching a Group
23221 @section Fetching a Group
23222 @cindex fetching a group
23224 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23225 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23226 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23227 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23228 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23229 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23232 @node Image Enhancements
23233 @section Image Enhancements
23235 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23236 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23237 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23240 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23241 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23242 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23243 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23244 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
23245 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23253 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23254 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23255 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23259 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23260 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23261 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23269 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23270 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23271 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23272 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23273 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23274 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23275 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23276 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23277 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23278 @code{display} program.
23280 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23281 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23282 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23283 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23284 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23285 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23286 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23287 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23289 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23290 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23291 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23292 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23293 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23294 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23296 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23304 @vindex gnus-x-face
23305 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23306 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23307 default colors are black and white.
23309 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23310 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23311 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23312 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23313 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23314 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23317 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23318 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23319 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23320 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23322 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23323 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23324 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23325 (png . (:relief -2))))
23328 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23329 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23330 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23331 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23332 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23333 @samp{libcompface} library.
23336 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23337 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23338 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23339 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23340 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23341 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23343 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23344 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23345 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23346 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23347 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23348 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23349 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23350 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23351 header data as a string.
23353 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23354 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23355 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23356 randomly generated data.
23358 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23359 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23360 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23361 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23362 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23364 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23365 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23368 (setq message-required-news-headers
23369 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23370 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23373 Using the last function would be something like this:
23376 (setq message-required-news-headers
23377 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23378 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23379 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23380 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23388 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23390 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23391 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23392 represent the author of the message.
23395 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23396 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23397 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23400 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23401 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23403 Viewing a @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23406 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23408 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23410 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23411 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23413 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23414 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23415 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23417 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23418 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23419 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23420 converts the file to Face format by using the
23421 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23423 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23424 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23427 (setq message-required-news-headers
23428 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23429 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23430 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23435 @subsection Smileys
23440 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23445 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23446 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23448 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23449 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23452 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23455 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23456 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23457 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23458 text and maps that to file names.
23460 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23461 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23462 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23463 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23464 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23467 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23472 @vindex smiley-style
23473 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23474 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23475 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23476 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23479 @item smiley-data-directory
23480 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23481 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23482 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23484 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23485 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23486 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23500 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23501 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23502 over your shoulder as you read news.
23504 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23513 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23514 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23515 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23516 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23517 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23518 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23519 @code{GIF} formats.
23522 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23523 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23524 point your Web browser at
23525 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23527 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23528 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23530 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23531 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23534 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23535 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23536 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23537 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23539 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23543 @item gnus-picon-databases
23544 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23545 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23546 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23547 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23548 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23550 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23551 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23552 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23553 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23555 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23556 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23557 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23558 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23560 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23561 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23562 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23563 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23564 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23566 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23567 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23568 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23569 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23571 @item gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23572 @vindex gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23573 If non-@code{nil} (which is the default), don't display picons for
23574 things like @samp{.net} and @samp{.de}, which aren't usually very
23580 @subsection Gravatars
23584 \include{gravatars}
23588 A gravatar is an image registered to an e-mail address.
23590 You can submit yours on-line at @uref{http://www.gravatar.com}.
23592 The following variables offer control over how things are displayed.
23596 @item gnus-gravatar-size
23597 @vindex gnus-gravatar-size
23598 The size in pixels of gravatars. Gravatars are always square, so one
23599 number for the size is enough.
23601 @item gnus-gravatar-properties
23602 @vindex gnus-gravatar-properties
23603 List of image properties applied to Gravatar images.
23605 @item gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23606 @vindex gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23607 Regexp that matches mail addresses or names of people of which avatars
23608 should not be displayed, or @code{nil}. It default to the value of
23609 @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (@pxref{X-Face}).
23613 If you want to see them in the From field, set:
23615 (setq gnus-treat-from-gravatar 'head)
23618 If you want to see them in the Cc and To fields, set:
23621 (setq gnus-treat-mail-gravatar 'head)
23626 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23629 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23630 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23631 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23632 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23633 unusual directory structure.
23635 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23636 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23637 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23642 @subsubsection Toolbar
23646 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23647 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23648 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23649 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23650 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23651 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23652 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23653 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23655 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23656 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23657 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23658 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23659 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23660 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23662 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23663 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23664 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23666 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23667 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23668 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23670 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23671 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23672 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23683 @node Fuzzy Matching
23684 @section Fuzzy Matching
23685 @cindex fuzzy matching
23687 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23688 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23690 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23691 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23692 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23694 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23695 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23696 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23697 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23698 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23701 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23702 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23706 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23708 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23709 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23710 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23711 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23712 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23713 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23714 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23715 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23718 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23719 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23720 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23721 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23722 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23723 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23725 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23728 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23729 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23730 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23731 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23734 @node The problem of spam
23735 @subsection The problem of spam
23737 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23738 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23740 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23742 First, some background on spam.
23744 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23745 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23746 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23747 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23748 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23749 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23750 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23751 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23752 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23754 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23755 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23756 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23757 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23758 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23759 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23760 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23761 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23762 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23765 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23766 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23767 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23768 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23769 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23770 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23771 from Bulgarian IPs.
23773 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23774 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23775 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
23776 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23778 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23779 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23780 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23781 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23783 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23784 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23785 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23786 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23787 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23788 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23789 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23790 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23791 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23793 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23794 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23795 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23796 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23797 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23798 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23799 down for some time because of the incident.
23801 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23802 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23803 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23804 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23805 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23806 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23807 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23808 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23809 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23810 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23811 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23813 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23814 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23815 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23816 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23817 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23818 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23819 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23822 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23823 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23827 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23829 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23830 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23832 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23833 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23834 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23835 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23836 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23837 part of the mail address.)
23840 (setq message-default-news-headers
23841 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23844 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23845 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23849 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23850 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23851 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23856 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23857 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23858 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23859 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23861 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23862 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23863 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23864 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23865 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23866 your fancy split rule in this way:
23871 (to "larsi" "misc")
23875 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
23876 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
23877 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
23878 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
23879 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
23881 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
23882 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
23883 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
23884 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
23886 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
23890 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
23891 @cindex SpamAssassin
23892 @cindex Vipul's Razor
23895 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
23896 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
23897 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
23898 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
23899 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
23900 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
23901 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
23903 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
23904 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
23905 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
23908 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
23909 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
23910 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
23911 Specifiers}) follow.
23915 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
23919 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
23922 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
23923 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
23924 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
23927 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
23931 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23934 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
23935 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
23939 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
23940 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
23941 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
23942 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
23945 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
23947 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
23951 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
23952 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
23956 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
23957 downloaded by default. You need to set
23958 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
23959 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
23961 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
23962 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
23963 spam. And here is the nifty function:
23966 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
23967 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
23969 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
23970 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
23974 @subsection Hashcash
23977 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
23978 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
23979 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
23980 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
23981 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
23983 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
23984 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
23985 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
23986 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
23987 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
23988 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
23989 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
23990 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
23991 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
23992 one of them separately.
23995 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
23996 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
23997 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
23998 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
23999 need to install to use this feature, see
24000 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24001 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24003 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24004 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24005 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24008 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24011 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24015 @item hashcash-default-payment
24016 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24017 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24018 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24021 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24022 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24023 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24024 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24025 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24026 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24027 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24028 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24029 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24031 @item hashcash-path
24032 @vindex hashcash-path
24033 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24034 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24035 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24036 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24037 when you generate hashcash payments.
24041 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24042 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24043 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24044 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24045 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24046 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24047 Hashcash Payments}).
24050 @section Spam Package
24051 @cindex spam filtering
24054 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24055 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24056 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24057 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24060 * Spam Package Introduction::
24061 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24062 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24063 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24064 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24066 * Extending the Spam package::
24067 * Spam Statistics Package::
24070 @node Spam Package Introduction
24071 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24072 @cindex spam filtering
24073 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24076 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24077 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24079 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24080 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24082 @cindex spam-initialize
24083 @vindex spam-use-stat
24084 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24085 @code{spam-initialize}:
24091 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24092 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24093 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24094 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24095 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24097 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24098 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24100 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24101 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24103 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24104 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24105 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24106 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24107 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24109 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24110 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24111 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24112 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24113 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24116 @cindex spam back ends
24117 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24118 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24119 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24120 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24121 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24123 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24124 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24126 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24127 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24128 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24129 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24130 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24131 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24132 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24134 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24135 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24136 point, the Spam package does several things:
24138 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24139 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24140 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24141 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24142 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24143 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24144 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24145 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24148 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24149 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24157 @kindex $ (Summary)
24158 @kindex M-d (Summary)
24159 @kindex S x (Summary)
24160 @kindex M s x (Summary)
24161 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24162 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24163 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24164 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24168 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24169 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24171 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24172 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24173 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24174 to be processed as ham by setting
24175 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24176 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24178 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24179 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24180 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24181 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24182 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24183 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24184 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24185 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24186 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24187 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24188 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24189 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24191 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24192 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24193 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24194 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24195 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24196 Configuration Examples}.
24198 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24199 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24200 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24201 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24203 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24204 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24206 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24207 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24208 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24210 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24211 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24212 @cindex spam filtering
24213 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24216 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24217 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24218 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24219 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24220 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24226 @vindex spam-split-group
24228 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24229 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24230 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24231 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24232 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24233 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24234 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24235 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24236 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24238 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24240 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24241 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24242 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24243 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to
24244 @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can ``scan''
24245 the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only retrieves
24246 the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells it to
24247 retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by default
24248 because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24249 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Client-Side
24252 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24253 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24254 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24255 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24256 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24257 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24258 ends, and the following split rule:
24261 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24262 (any "ding" "ding")
24264 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24269 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24270 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24271 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24272 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24273 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24274 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24276 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24277 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24278 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24279 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24284 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24285 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24286 (any "ding" "ding")
24287 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24289 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24294 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24295 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24296 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24297 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24298 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24299 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24300 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24302 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24303 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24304 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24305 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24307 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24308 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24311 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24312 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24314 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24315 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24316 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24317 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24319 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24320 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24321 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24322 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24324 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24325 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24326 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24328 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24329 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24330 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24331 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24332 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24333 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24334 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24336 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24337 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24338 @cindex spam filtering
24339 @cindex spam filtering variables
24340 @cindex spam variables
24343 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24344 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24345 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24346 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24347 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24348 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24349 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24351 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24352 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24353 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24354 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24356 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24357 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24358 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24359 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24360 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24361 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24362 by customizing the corresponding variable
24363 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24364 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24365 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24366 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24367 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24368 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24369 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24372 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24374 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24375 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24376 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24377 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24378 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24379 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24380 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24381 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24382 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24383 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24384 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24385 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24386 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24388 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24389 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24390 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24391 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24392 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24393 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24394 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24395 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24398 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24399 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24400 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24401 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24402 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24403 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24404 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24409 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24410 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24411 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24412 you really want to.
24415 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24416 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24417 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24418 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24419 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24420 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24423 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24424 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24425 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24426 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24427 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24428 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24429 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24430 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24431 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24432 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24433 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24434 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24435 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24436 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24437 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24439 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24440 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24442 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24443 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24444 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24446 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24447 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24449 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24450 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24451 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24452 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24453 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24455 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24456 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24457 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24458 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24459 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24462 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24463 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24464 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24465 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24466 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24467 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24468 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24469 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24470 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24471 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24472 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24473 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24474 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24476 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24477 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24479 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24480 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24483 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24484 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24485 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24486 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24487 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24488 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24489 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24491 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24492 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24493 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24494 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24496 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24497 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24498 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24499 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24500 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24501 from the mail server.
24503 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24504 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24505 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24506 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24508 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24509 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24510 @cindex spam filtering
24511 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24512 @cindex spam configuration examples
24515 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24517 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24519 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24520 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24521 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24525 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24527 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24528 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24529 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24530 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24531 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24532 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24533 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24534 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24535 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24536 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24537 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24538 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24539 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24540 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24541 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24542 (any "ding" "ding")
24543 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24545 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24548 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24550 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24551 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24552 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24553 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24555 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24557 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24558 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24559 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24560 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24561 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24563 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24564 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24566 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24568 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24569 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24571 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24572 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24573 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24575 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24577 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24578 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24580 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24581 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24582 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24584 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24585 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24586 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24587 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24589 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24590 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24591 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24595 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24596 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24598 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24599 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24600 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24601 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24602 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24603 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24604 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24605 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24606 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24608 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24609 does most of the job for me:
24612 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24613 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24614 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24615 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24616 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24617 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24618 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24623 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24625 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24626 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24627 bogofilter or DCC).
24629 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24630 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24631 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24632 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24633 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24634 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24635 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24637 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24638 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24639 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
24640 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24641 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24642 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24644 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24646 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24647 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24648 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24649 @samp{training.spam}.
24652 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24654 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24656 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24657 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24658 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24662 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24665 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24666 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24667 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
24668 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24669 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24671 @node Spam Back Ends
24672 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24673 @cindex spam back ends
24675 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24676 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24677 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24678 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24682 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24683 * BBDB Whitelists::
24684 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24685 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24687 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24689 * SpamAssassin back end::
24690 * ifile spam filtering::
24691 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24695 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24696 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24697 @cindex spam filtering
24698 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24699 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24702 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24704 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24705 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24706 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24707 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24712 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24714 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24715 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24716 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24717 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24718 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24722 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24724 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24725 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24726 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24730 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24732 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24733 customizing the group parameters or the
24734 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24735 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24736 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24740 Instead of the obsolete
24741 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24742 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24743 the same way, we promise.
24747 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24749 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24750 customizing the group parameters or the
24751 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24752 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24753 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24758 Instead of the obsolete
24759 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24760 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24761 the same way, we promise.
24765 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24766 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24767 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24768 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24769 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24771 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24772 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24773 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24774 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24776 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24777 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24778 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24779 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24780 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24781 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24783 @node BBDB Whitelists
24784 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24785 @cindex spam filtering
24786 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24787 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24790 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24792 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24793 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24794 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24795 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24796 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24797 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24798 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24802 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24804 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24805 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24806 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
24807 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24808 classified as spammers.
24810 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24811 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24812 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24813 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24818 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24820 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24821 customizing the group parameters or the
24822 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24823 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24824 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24829 Instead of the obsolete
24830 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24831 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24832 the same way, we promise.
24836 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24837 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24838 @cindex spam reporting
24839 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24840 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24843 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24845 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24846 customizing the group parameters or the
24847 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24848 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24849 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24852 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24856 Instead of the obsolete
24857 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24858 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24859 same way, we promise.
24863 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24865 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24866 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24867 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24868 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24869 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
24873 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
24875 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
24876 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
24877 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
24881 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24882 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24883 @cindex spam filtering
24884 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
24887 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
24889 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24890 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
24891 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
24892 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
24893 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
24894 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24899 @subsubsection Blackholes
24900 @cindex spam filtering
24901 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
24904 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
24906 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
24907 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
24908 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
24909 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
24910 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
24911 contains outdated servers.
24913 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
24914 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
24915 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
24916 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
24917 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
24918 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
24922 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
24924 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
24928 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
24930 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
24931 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
24935 @defvar spam-use-dig
24937 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
24938 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
24942 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
24943 ham processor for blackholes.
24945 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
24946 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
24947 @cindex spam filtering
24948 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
24951 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
24953 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
24954 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
24955 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
24956 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
24957 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
24958 message is spam or ham, respectively.
24962 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
24964 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24965 the message, positively identify it as spam.
24969 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
24971 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24972 the message, positively identify it as ham.
24976 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
24977 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
24980 @subsubsection Bogofilter
24981 @cindex spam filtering
24982 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
24985 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
24987 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24990 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
24991 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
24992 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
24993 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
24994 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
24995 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
24997 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
24998 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25001 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25002 processing will be turned off.
25004 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25013 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25014 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25017 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25019 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25020 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25021 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25022 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25023 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25024 installation documents for details.
25026 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25030 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25031 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25032 customizing the group parameters or the
25033 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25034 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25035 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25039 Instead of the obsolete
25040 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25041 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25042 the same way, we promise.
25045 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25046 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25047 customizing the group parameters or the
25048 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25049 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25050 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25051 of non-spam messages.
25055 Instead of the obsolete
25056 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25057 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25058 the same way, we promise.
25061 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25063 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25064 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25065 database directory.
25069 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25070 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25071 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25072 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25073 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25074 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25076 @node SpamAssassin back end
25077 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25078 @cindex spam filtering
25079 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25082 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25084 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25086 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25087 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25088 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25089 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25092 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25093 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25094 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25095 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25098 You should not enable this if you use
25099 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25103 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25105 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25106 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25108 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25112 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25114 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25115 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25116 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25117 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25121 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25122 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25123 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25124 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25125 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25126 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25127 to test this functionality.
25129 @node ifile spam filtering
25130 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25131 @cindex spam filtering
25132 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25135 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25137 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25138 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25142 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25144 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25145 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25146 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25150 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25152 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25153 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25154 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25157 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25159 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25160 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25164 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25165 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25166 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25167 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25170 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25171 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25172 @cindex spam filtering
25173 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25177 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25178 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25179 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25180 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25181 spam-stat dictionary}.
25183 @defvar spam-use-stat
25187 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25188 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25189 customizing the group parameters or the
25190 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25191 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25192 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25196 Instead of the obsolete
25197 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25198 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25199 the same way, we promise.
25202 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25203 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25204 customizing the group parameters or the
25205 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25206 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25207 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25208 of non-spam messages.
25212 Instead of the obsolete
25213 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25214 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25215 the same way, we promise.
25218 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25219 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25220 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25221 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25222 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25225 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25226 @cindex spam filtering
25230 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25231 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25232 installed separately.
25234 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25235 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25236 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25237 mail as a spam mail or not.
25239 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25240 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25241 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25243 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25246 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25247 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25248 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25249 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25250 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25251 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25252 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25253 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25256 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25257 spam-split-group "Junk"
25258 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
25259 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25260 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25263 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25264 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25268 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25269 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25270 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25274 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25275 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25276 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25277 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25278 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25279 database to live somewhere special, set
25280 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25283 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25284 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25285 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25286 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25287 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25288 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25289 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25290 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25291 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25292 @xref{Spam Package}.
25294 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25295 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25296 customizing the group parameter or the
25297 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25298 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25299 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25303 Instead of the obsolete
25304 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25305 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25306 the same way, we promise.
25309 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25310 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25311 customizing the group parameter or the
25312 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25313 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25314 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25319 Instead of the obsolete
25320 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25321 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25322 the same way, we promise.
25325 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25326 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25329 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25330 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25331 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25333 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25334 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25335 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25336 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25337 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25338 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25340 @node Extending the Spam package
25341 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25342 @cindex spam filtering
25343 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25344 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25346 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25347 incoming mail, provide the following:
25355 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25356 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25359 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25361 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25362 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25363 register/unregister routines as a start, or other register/unregister
25364 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25365 register/unregister spam and ham.
25370 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25371 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25372 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25373 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25378 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25385 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25386 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25388 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25389 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25390 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25391 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25394 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25395 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25396 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25398 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25399 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25400 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25409 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25410 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25412 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25413 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25414 variable customization.
25418 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25420 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25421 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25423 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25424 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25430 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25432 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25433 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25434 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25437 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25439 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25440 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25444 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25446 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25447 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25448 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25452 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25454 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25455 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25456 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25459 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25461 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25462 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25466 @code{spam-install-backend}
25468 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25469 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25470 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25473 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25475 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25476 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25477 never install such a back end.
25482 @node Spam Statistics Package
25483 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25484 @cindex Paul Graham
25485 @cindex Graham, Paul
25486 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25487 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25488 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25490 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25491 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25492 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25493 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25494 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25495 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25496 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25497 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25498 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25501 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25502 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25503 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25504 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25505 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25506 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25507 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25508 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25510 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25511 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25512 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25514 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25515 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25516 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25517 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25518 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25521 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25522 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25523 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25526 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25527 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25529 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25530 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25531 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25532 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25533 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25535 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25536 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25537 per mail. Use the following:
25539 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25540 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25541 is treated as one spam mail.
25544 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25545 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25546 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25549 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25550 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25551 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25552 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25553 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25554 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25556 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25557 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25558 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25559 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25560 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25563 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25564 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25565 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25566 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25569 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25570 reset the dictionary.
25572 @defun spam-stat-reset
25573 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25576 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25577 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25578 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25579 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25580 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25581 only non-spam mails.
25583 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25584 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25585 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25588 @defun spam-stat-save
25589 Save the dictionary.
25592 @defvar spam-stat-file
25593 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25594 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25597 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25598 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25600 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25601 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25603 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25606 (require 'spam-stat)
25610 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25613 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25614 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25615 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25616 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25618 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25619 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25620 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25621 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25624 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25625 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25629 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25630 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25633 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25634 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25635 expression are considered potential spam.
25638 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25639 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25640 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25644 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25645 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25646 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25647 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25648 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25651 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25652 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25653 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25657 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25658 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25659 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25660 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25661 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25665 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25666 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25667 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25668 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25673 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25674 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25676 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25678 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25679 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25680 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25683 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25684 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25685 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25688 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25689 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25690 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25691 already been processed as non-spam.
25694 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25695 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25696 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25697 been processed as spam.
25700 @defun spam-stat-save
25701 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25702 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25705 @defun spam-stat-load
25706 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25707 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25710 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25711 Return the spam score for a word.
25714 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25715 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25718 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25719 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25720 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25723 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25724 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25727 (require 'spam-stat)
25731 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25734 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25735 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25736 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25737 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25738 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25739 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25740 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25741 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25742 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25743 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25744 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25745 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25746 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25747 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25750 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25753 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25754 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25755 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25756 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25757 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25758 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25761 @node The Gnus Registry
25762 @section The Gnus Registry
25767 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
25768 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
25769 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
25770 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
25771 features are pretty cool.
25773 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
25774 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
25778 Split messages to their parent
25780 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
25781 the sender in addition to the Message-ID. Several strategies are
25785 Refer to messages by ID
25787 Commands like @code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article} can take
25788 advantage of the registry to jump to the referred article, regardless
25789 of the group the message is in.
25792 Store custom flags and keywords
25794 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
25795 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
25796 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
25800 Store arbitrary data
25802 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
25803 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
25804 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
25808 * Gnus Registry Setup::
25809 * Fancy splitting to parent::
25810 * Registry Article Refer Method::
25811 * Store custom flags and keywords::
25812 * Store arbitrary data::
25815 @node Gnus Registry Setup
25816 @subsection Gnus Registry Setup
25818 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
25821 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
25823 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25826 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
25827 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @code{*Group*} buffer. It also
25828 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.) so
25829 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
25830 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
25832 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
25833 what they do before you copy them blindly).
25837 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
25838 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
25842 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
25843 ;; this is the default
25844 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
25847 They say: keep a lot of messages around, track messages by sender and
25848 subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when the registry splits
25849 incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where messages should go
25850 if there's more than one possibility. In addition, the registry
25851 should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'', ``nnrss'',
25852 ``spam'', or ``train.''
25854 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
25855 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
25856 the general settings.
25858 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
25859 The groups that will not be followed by
25860 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
25861 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
25862 By default any group name that ends with ``delayed'', ``drafts'',
25863 ``queue'', or ``INBOX'', belongs to the nnmairix backend, or contains
25864 the word ``archive'' is not followed.
25867 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
25868 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
25869 registry will keep.
25872 @defvar gnus-registry-max-pruned-entries
25873 The maximum number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries
25874 the registry will keep after pruning.
25877 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
25878 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions. By
25879 default the file name is @code{.gnus.registry.eioio} in the same
25880 directory as your @code{.newsrc.eld}.
25883 @node Registry Article Refer Method
25884 @subsection Fetching by @code{Message-ID} Using the Registry
25886 The registry knows how to map each @code{Message-ID} to the group it's
25887 in. This can be leveraged to enhance the ``article refer method'',
25888 the thing that tells Gnus how to look up an article given its
25889 Message-ID (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25892 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
25894 The @code{nnregistry} refer method does exactly that. It has the
25895 advantage that an article may be found regardless of the group it's
25896 in---provided its @code{Message-ID} is known to the registry. It can
25897 be enabled by augmenting the start-up file with something along these
25901 ;; Keep enough entries to have a good hit rate when referring to an
25902 ;; article using the registry. Use long group names so that Gnus
25903 ;; knows where the article is.
25904 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
25906 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25908 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
25911 (nnweb "gmane" (nnweb-type gmane))))
25914 The example above instructs Gnus to first look up the article in the
25915 current group, or, alternatively, using the registry, and finally, if
25916 all else fails, using Gmane.
25918 @node Fancy splitting to parent
25919 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
25921 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
25923 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
25924 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
25925 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
25928 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
25929 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
25930 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
25931 have to put a rule like this:
25934 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
25936 ;; split to parent: you need this
25937 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
25939 ;; other rules, as an example
25945 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
25946 following variables.
25948 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
25949 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
25950 Customize interface. By default it's @code{(subject sender)}, which
25951 may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large and
25952 people don't stick to the same groups.
25955 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
25956 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
25957 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
25958 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
25959 the majority of matches or on the first found. I find @code{majority}
25963 @node Store custom flags and keywords
25964 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
25966 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
25967 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
25968 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
25970 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
25971 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
25972 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
25973 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
25974 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
25975 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
25977 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
25978 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
25979 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
25983 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
25984 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
25985 will offer the available marks for completion.
25988 You can use @code{defalias} to install a summary line formatting
25989 function that will show the registry marks. There are two flavors of
25990 this function, either showing the marks as single characters, using
25991 their @code{:char} property, or showing the marks as full strings.
25994 ;; show the marks as single characters (see the :char property in
25995 ;; `gnus-registry-marks'):
25996 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-chars)
25998 ;; show the marks by name (see `gnus-registry-marks'):
25999 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-names)
26003 @node Store arbitrary data
26004 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26006 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26007 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26010 @defun gnus-registry-set-id-key (id key value)
26011 Store @code{value} under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26014 @defun gnus-registry-get-id-key (id key)
26015 Get the data under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26018 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26019 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26020 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26021 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26022 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26027 @section Interaction with other modes
26032 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26033 buffers. It is enabled with
26035 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26040 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26041 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26042 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26043 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26046 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26047 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26048 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26052 @findex gnus-dired-print
26053 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26054 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26057 @node Various Various
26058 @section Various Various
26064 @item gnus-home-directory
26065 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26066 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26067 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26069 @item gnus-directory
26070 @vindex gnus-directory
26071 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26072 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26073 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26075 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26076 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26077 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26078 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26080 @item gnus-default-directory
26081 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26082 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26083 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26084 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26085 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26086 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26087 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26090 @vindex gnus-verbose
26091 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26092 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26093 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26094 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26095 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26097 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26098 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26099 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26100 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26102 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26103 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26104 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26105 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26106 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26107 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26108 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26109 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26110 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26111 displayed in the echo area.
26113 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26114 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26115 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26116 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26117 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26118 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26119 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26120 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26121 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26122 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26124 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26125 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26126 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26127 read when doing the operation described above.
26129 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26130 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26132 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26133 @cindex characters in file names
26134 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26135 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26136 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26140 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26145 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26146 Windows (phooey) systems.
26148 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26149 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26150 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26151 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26152 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26154 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26155 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26156 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26157 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26158 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26160 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26161 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26162 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26164 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26165 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26167 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26168 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26169 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26170 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26173 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26175 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26176 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26177 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26178 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26179 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26180 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26181 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26182 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26183 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26190 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26191 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26193 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26195 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26201 Not because of victories @*
26204 but for the common sunshine,@*
26206 the largess of the spring.
26210 but for the day's work done@*
26211 as well as I was able;@*
26212 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26213 but at the common table.@*
26218 @chapter Appendices
26221 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26222 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26223 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26224 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26225 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26226 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26227 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26228 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26229 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26236 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26238 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26239 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26240 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26241 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26242 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
26243 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26250 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26251 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26253 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26254 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26255 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26256 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26257 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26259 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26260 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26261 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26262 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26263 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26264 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26266 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26267 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26268 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26269 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26272 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26273 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26274 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26275 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26276 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26277 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26278 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26279 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26283 @node Gnus Versions
26284 @subsection Gnus Versions
26286 @cindex September Gnus
26288 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26289 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26293 @cindex Gnus versions
26295 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26296 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26297 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26299 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26300 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26302 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26303 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26305 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26306 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26308 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26309 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26312 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26313 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26315 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26317 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26318 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26319 with the information when possible).
26321 On the January 31th 2012, Ma Gnus was begun.
26323 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
26324 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26325 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'', ``Ma Gnus'' -- don't
26326 panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly.
26327 Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of
26328 its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to
26335 What's the point of Gnus?
26337 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26338 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26339 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26340 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26341 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26342 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26343 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26344 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26345 keep track of millions of people who post?
26347 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26348 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26349 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26350 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26351 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26352 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26353 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26354 every one of you to explore and invent.
26356 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26357 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26360 @node Compatibility
26361 @subsection Compatibility
26363 @cindex compatibility
26364 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26365 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26366 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26371 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26375 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26378 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26381 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26382 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26383 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26384 important variables have their values copied into their global
26385 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26386 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26388 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26389 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26390 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26391 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26392 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26396 @cindex highlighting
26397 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26398 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26399 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26400 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26401 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26402 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26405 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26406 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26407 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26408 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26410 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26411 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26412 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26413 to stop doing it the old way.
26415 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26417 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26419 @cindex reporting bugs
26421 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26422 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26423 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26425 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26426 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26427 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26428 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26433 @subsection Conformity
26435 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26436 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26444 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26448 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26450 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26451 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26452 We do have some breaches to this one.
26458 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26459 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26460 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26461 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26462 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26467 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26468 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26469 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26470 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26472 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26473 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26474 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26476 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26477 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26479 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26482 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26483 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26484 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26485 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26486 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26489 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26490 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26491 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26492 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26494 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26495 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26497 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26498 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26499 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26500 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26501 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26502 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26503 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26504 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26508 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26509 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26514 @subsection Emacsen
26520 This version of Gnus should work on:
26528 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26532 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26533 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26534 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26535 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26537 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26540 @node Gnus Development
26541 @subsection Gnus Development
26543 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26544 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26545 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26546 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26547 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26548 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26549 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26550 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26552 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26553 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26554 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26555 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26556 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26557 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26558 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26562 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26563 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26564 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26565 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26566 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26568 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26569 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26570 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26571 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26572 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26573 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26574 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26575 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26576 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26577 can't be assumed to do so.
26579 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26580 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26581 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26584 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26585 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26586 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26587 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26588 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26591 @subsection Contributors
26592 @cindex contributors
26594 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26595 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26596 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26597 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26598 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26599 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26600 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26601 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26602 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26603 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26605 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26611 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26614 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el,
26615 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26616 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26617 functionality and stuff.
26620 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26621 well as numerous other things).
26624 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26627 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26630 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26633 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26636 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26637 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26640 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26643 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26646 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26649 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26652 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bug detection and fixes.
26655 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26658 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26659 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26662 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26665 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26668 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26671 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26675 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26678 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26681 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26684 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26685 well as autoconf support.
26689 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26690 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26692 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26707 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26709 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26713 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26723 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26738 Massimo Campostrini,
26743 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26744 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26748 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
26751 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
26757 Michael Welsh Duggan,
26762 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
26766 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
26774 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
26776 Michelangelo Grigni,
26780 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
26782 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
26784 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
26792 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
26793 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
26794 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
26796 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
26806 Peter Skov Knudsen,
26807 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
26809 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
26810 Thor Kristoffersen,
26813 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
26831 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
26832 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
26839 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
26844 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
26848 John McClary Prevost,
26854 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
26859 Christian von Roques,
26862 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
26869 Philippe Schnoebelen,
26871 Randal L. Schwartz,
26885 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
26890 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
26910 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
26911 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
26912 (550kB and counting).
26914 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
26917 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
26918 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
26922 @subsection New Features
26923 @cindex new features
26926 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
26927 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
26928 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
26929 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
26930 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
26931 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
26932 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13.
26933 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
26936 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
26937 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
26938 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
26941 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
26943 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
26948 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
26949 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
26952 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
26953 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
26956 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
26959 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
26960 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
26961 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
26964 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
26965 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
26966 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
26967 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26970 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
26971 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26974 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
26975 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
26976 (@pxref{The Active File}).
26979 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
26980 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
26983 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
26984 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
26985 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26988 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
26989 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
26990 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
26993 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
26994 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
26997 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
26998 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27001 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27002 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27005 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27006 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27009 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27010 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27013 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27016 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27017 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27020 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27021 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27024 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27025 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27028 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27031 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27032 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27035 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27039 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27043 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27044 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27049 @node September Gnus
27050 @subsubsection September Gnus
27054 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27058 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27063 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27064 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27068 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27069 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27073 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27077 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27078 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27081 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27085 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27088 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27091 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27094 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27098 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27099 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27102 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27106 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27110 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27114 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27118 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27121 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27122 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27125 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27129 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27130 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27133 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27136 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27137 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27138 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27141 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27144 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27147 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27151 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27152 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27155 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27156 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27159 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27160 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27163 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27164 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27165 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27168 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27169 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27172 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27175 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27178 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27181 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27184 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27185 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27188 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27192 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27195 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27200 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27203 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27207 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27210 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27213 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27214 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27217 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27218 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27222 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27223 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27226 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27230 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27231 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27234 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27237 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27241 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27245 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27246 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27249 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27253 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27254 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27257 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27258 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27261 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27265 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27268 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27271 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27277 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27279 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27283 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27290 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27293 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27294 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27297 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27298 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27302 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27303 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27306 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27309 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27310 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27313 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27317 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27318 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27322 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extensible (@pxref{Document
27323 Server Internals}).
27326 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27330 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27333 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27334 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27337 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27338 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27339 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27342 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27343 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27346 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27347 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27350 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27354 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27355 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27358 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27359 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27362 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27366 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27369 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27373 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27374 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27377 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27378 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27381 A new command for reading collections of documents
27382 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27383 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27386 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27390 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27391 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27394 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27395 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27396 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27399 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27400 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27404 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27408 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27412 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27417 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27421 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27425 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27426 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27429 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27435 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27437 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27442 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27443 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27444 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27447 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27448 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27449 group, which is created automatically.
27452 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27456 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27459 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27460 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27463 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27467 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27470 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27471 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27474 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27477 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27481 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27482 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27485 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27486 control over simplification.
27489 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27492 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27496 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27499 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27502 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27503 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27504 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27507 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27508 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27511 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27515 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27516 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27519 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27520 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27523 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27527 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27530 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27533 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27534 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27537 A new function for citing in Message has been
27538 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27541 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27544 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27548 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27549 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27552 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27553 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27556 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27559 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27563 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27564 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27566 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27571 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27572 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27574 If you used procmail like in
27577 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27578 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27579 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27580 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27583 this now has changed to
27587 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27591 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27594 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27595 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27598 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27599 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27602 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27603 called to position point.
27606 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27607 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27610 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27611 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27614 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27615 subtly different manner.
27618 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27619 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27620 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27623 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27628 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27631 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27635 @item Installation changes
27636 @c ***********************
27640 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27642 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27643 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27644 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27645 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27646 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27647 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27648 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27649 isn't save in general.
27652 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27653 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27654 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27655 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27656 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27657 remove-installed-shadows}.
27660 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27662 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27663 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27664 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27665 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27666 the second parameter.
27668 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27669 automatic recognition of XEmacs and Emacs, generates
27670 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27671 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27672 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27673 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27674 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27675 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27676 cycle used under Unix systems.
27678 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27679 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27682 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27684 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27685 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27688 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27689 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
27691 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27693 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27694 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27695 lisp directory into load-path.
27697 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27698 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27702 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27703 @c *****************************************
27708 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27709 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27712 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27714 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27715 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GnuTLS.
27718 Improved anti-spam features.
27720 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27721 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27722 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27723 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27724 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27725 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27728 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27730 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27731 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27732 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27733 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27734 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27738 @item Changes in group mode
27739 @c ************************
27744 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27748 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27750 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
27751 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
27754 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
27756 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
27757 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
27758 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
27759 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
27760 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
27763 (setq gnus-parameters
27765 (gnus-show-threads nil)
27766 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
27767 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
27768 (to-group . "\\1"))))
27772 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
27774 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
27775 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
27776 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
27777 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
27778 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
27779 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
27780 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
27781 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
27782 when getting new mail, remove the function.
27785 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
27787 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
27788 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
27789 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
27792 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
27793 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
27795 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
27796 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
27797 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
27799 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
27803 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
27804 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
27805 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
27809 @item Changes in summary and article mode
27810 @c **************************************
27815 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
27816 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
27817 region if the region is active.
27820 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
27821 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
27826 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
27827 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
27828 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
27829 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
27832 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
27837 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
27838 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
27840 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
27841 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
27845 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
27846 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
27849 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
27852 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
27853 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
27856 Warn about email replies to news
27858 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
27859 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
27863 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
27864 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
27868 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
27869 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
27872 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
27873 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
27876 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
27877 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
27880 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
27882 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
27883 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
27884 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
27885 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
27888 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
27889 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
27890 Outlook (Express) articles.
27893 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
27895 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
27896 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
27897 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
27898 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
27900 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
27901 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
27902 message cited below.
27905 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
27908 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
27912 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
27915 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
27916 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
27919 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
27922 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
27924 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
27925 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
27926 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
27927 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
27928 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
27932 Deleting of attachments.
27934 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
27935 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
27936 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
27937 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
27938 that support editing.
27941 @code{gnus-default-charset}
27943 The default value is determined from the
27944 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
27945 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
27946 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
27949 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
27951 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
27952 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
27953 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
27956 Extended format specs.
27958 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
27959 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
27960 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
27961 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
27962 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
27963 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
27966 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
27967 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
27969 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
27970 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
27971 out other articles.
27974 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
27976 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
27977 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
27978 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
27979 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
27982 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
27986 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
27987 @c ****************************************************
27994 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
27995 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
27996 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
27999 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28000 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28003 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28004 Gcc articles as read.
28007 Externalizing of attachments
28009 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28010 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28011 local files as external parts.
28014 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28015 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28018 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28020 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28021 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28022 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28023 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28024 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28025 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28026 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28027 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28028 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28031 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28033 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28034 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28035 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28036 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28037 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28038 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28041 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28042 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28046 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28049 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28051 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28052 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28053 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28054 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28055 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28056 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28057 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28058 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28059 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28060 was inserted directly.
28063 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28065 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28066 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28067 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28068 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28069 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28072 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28074 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28076 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28077 'bbdb-complete-name)
28081 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28083 Add a new format of match like
28085 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28086 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28088 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28090 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28091 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28095 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28097 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28098 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28099 need add those two headers too.
28102 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28103 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28104 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28108 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28109 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28110 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28111 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28112 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28115 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28117 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28120 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28122 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28126 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28128 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28129 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28130 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28131 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28132 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28133 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28134 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28135 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28138 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28139 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
28141 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28142 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28143 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28144 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28147 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28150 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28151 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28154 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28157 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28158 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28159 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28160 invalidate the digital signature.
28163 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28164 decompressed when activated.
28165 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28168 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28170 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28171 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28172 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28173 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28174 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28177 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28178 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28179 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28180 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28182 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28183 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28184 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28185 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28189 @item Changes in back ends
28190 @c ***********************
28194 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28197 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28200 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28202 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28205 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28207 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28208 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28209 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28210 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
28211 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28212 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28213 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28214 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28215 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28216 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28217 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28227 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28228 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28231 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28232 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28233 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28234 message, Message Manual}).
28237 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28238 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28239 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28240 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28242 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28243 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28244 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28249 @item Miscellaneous changes
28250 @c ************************
28257 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28258 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28259 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28260 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28261 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28262 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28263 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28264 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28265 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28266 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28267 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28268 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28269 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28270 is not needed any more.
28273 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28275 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28276 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28277 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28282 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28283 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28284 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28288 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28291 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28293 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28300 @subsubsection No Gnus
28303 New features in No Gnus:
28304 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28306 @include gnus-news.texi
28309 @subsubsection Ma Gnus
28312 I'm sure there will be lots of text here. It's really spelled 真
28315 New features in Ma Gnus:
28319 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28320 @c ****************************************************
28325 The new hooks @code{gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook} and
28326 @code{gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook} are run before/after encoding
28327 the message body of the Gcc copy of a sent message. See
28328 @xref{Archived Messages}.
28338 @section The Manual
28342 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28343 either @code{texi2dvi}
28345 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28346 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28348 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28350 The following conventions have been used:
28355 This is a @samp{string}
28358 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28361 This is a @file{file}
28364 This is a @code{symbol}
28368 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28372 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28375 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28378 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28381 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28382 ever get them confused.
28386 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28387 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28388 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28389 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28390 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28391 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28392 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28398 @node On Writing Manuals
28399 @section On Writing Manuals
28401 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28402 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28403 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28404 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28405 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28406 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28409 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28410 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28411 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28414 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28415 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28420 @section Terminology
28422 @cindex terminology
28427 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28428 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28429 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28430 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28431 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28435 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28436 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28437 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28438 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28442 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28446 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28451 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28452 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28453 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28454 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28455 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28456 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28457 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28458 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28459 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28462 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28463 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28464 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28465 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28466 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28467 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28469 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28470 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28471 access the articles.
28473 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28474 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28475 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28480 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28481 default, way of getting news. Groups from the native select method
28482 have names like @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}.
28486 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same
28487 time. These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends
28488 for getting news. Foreign groups have names like
28489 @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28493 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and
28494 being foreign, but they mostly act like they are native, but they, too
28495 have names like @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28499 A message that has been posted as news.
28502 @cindex mail message
28503 A message that has been mailed.
28507 A mail message or news article
28511 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28516 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28521 A line from the head of an article.
28525 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28526 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28528 @item @acronym{NOV}
28529 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28530 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28531 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28532 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28533 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28534 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28536 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28537 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28538 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28539 normal @sc{head} format.
28541 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28542 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28543 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28544 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28545 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28548 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28549 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28550 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28551 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28552 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28553 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28554 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28558 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
28559 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28560 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
28561 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28562 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28563 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28565 @item killed groups
28566 @cindex killed groups
28567 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28568 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28570 @item zombie groups
28571 @cindex zombie groups
28572 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28575 @cindex active file
28576 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28577 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28578 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28581 @cindex bogus groups
28582 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28583 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28584 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28587 @cindex activating groups
28588 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28589 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28590 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28594 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28595 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28596 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28600 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28602 @item select method
28603 @cindex select method
28604 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28607 @item virtual server
28608 @cindex virtual server
28609 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28610 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28611 whole is a virtual server.
28615 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28616 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28619 @item ephemeral groups
28620 @cindex ephemeral groups
28621 @cindex temporary groups
28622 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28623 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28624 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28627 @cindex solid groups
28628 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28629 group buffer are solid groups.
28631 @item sparse articles
28632 @cindex sparse articles
28633 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28634 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28638 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28639 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28643 @cindex thread root
28644 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28645 articles in the thread.
28649 An article that has responses.
28653 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28657 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28658 specified by RFC 1153.
28661 @cindex splitting, terminology
28662 @cindex mail sorting
28663 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28664 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28665 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28671 @node Customization
28672 @section Customization
28673 @cindex general customization
28675 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28676 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28677 for some quite common situations.
28680 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28681 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28682 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28683 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28687 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28688 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28690 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28691 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28692 Gnus has to get from the server.
28696 @item gnus-read-active-file
28697 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28698 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28699 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28700 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28701 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28703 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28704 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28705 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28706 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28707 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28708 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28709 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28710 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28711 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28712 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28713 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28715 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28716 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28717 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28718 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
28719 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
28724 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28725 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28727 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28728 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28729 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28733 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28734 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28735 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28736 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28737 horizontal and vertical recentering.
28739 @item gnus-visible-headers
28740 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
28741 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
28742 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
28743 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
28745 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
28747 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
28748 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
28749 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
28752 @item gnus-use-full-window
28753 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
28754 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
28755 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
28756 want to read them anyway.
28758 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
28759 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
28763 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
28764 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
28765 lines, which might save some time.
28769 @node Little Disk Space
28770 @subsection Little Disk Space
28773 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
28774 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
28778 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
28779 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
28780 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28781 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28784 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
28785 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
28786 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28787 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28790 @item gnus-save-killed-list
28791 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
28792 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
28793 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
28794 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
28800 @subsection Slow Machine
28801 @cindex slow machine
28803 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
28804 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
28806 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28807 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
28809 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
28810 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
28811 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
28815 @node Troubleshooting
28816 @section Troubleshooting
28817 @cindex troubleshooting
28819 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
28827 Make sure your computer is switched on.
28830 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
28831 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
28835 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
28837 @samp{Ma Gnus v0.6} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
28839 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
28840 files lying around. Delete these.
28843 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
28844 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
28847 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
28848 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
28849 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
28850 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
28851 something like that.
28854 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
28857 @cindex reporting bugs
28859 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
28861 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
28862 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
28863 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
28864 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
28866 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
28867 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
28868 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
28869 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
28872 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
28873 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
28874 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
28875 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
28876 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
28877 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
28879 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
28880 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
28881 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
28885 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
28886 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
28889 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
28890 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
28891 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
28892 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
28893 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
28894 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
28895 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
28896 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
28897 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
28898 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
28899 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
28900 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
28901 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
28902 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
28907 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
28908 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
28909 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
28910 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
28911 helps isolating the real problem areas).
28913 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
28914 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
28915 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
28916 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
28917 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
28918 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
28919 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
28920 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
28921 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
28922 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
28923 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
28924 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
28925 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
28928 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
28929 @cindex ding mailing list
28930 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
28931 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
28932 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
28933 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
28937 @node Gnus Reference Guide
28938 @section Gnus Reference Guide
28940 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
28941 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
28942 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
28943 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
28946 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
28947 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
28948 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
28949 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
28950 and general methods of operation.
28953 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
28954 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
28955 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
28956 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
28957 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
28958 * Group Info:: The group info format.
28959 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
28960 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
28961 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
28965 @node Gnus Utility Functions
28966 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
28967 @cindex Gnus utility functions
28968 @cindex utility functions
28970 @cindex internal variables
28972 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
28973 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
28974 Below is a list of the most common ones.
28978 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
28979 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
28980 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
28982 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
28983 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
28984 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
28986 @item gnus-group-real-name
28987 @findex gnus-group-real-name
28988 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
28991 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
28992 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
28993 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
28994 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
28996 @item gnus-get-info
28997 @findex gnus-get-info
28998 Returns the group info list for @var{group} (@pxref{Group Info}).
29000 @item gnus-group-unread
29001 @findex gnus-group-unread
29002 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29006 @findex gnus-active
29007 The active entry (i.e., a cons cell containing the lowest and highest
29008 article numbers) for @var{group}.
29010 @item gnus-set-active
29011 @findex gnus-set-active
29012 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29014 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29015 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29016 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29019 @item gnus-continuum-version
29020 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29021 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29022 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29025 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29026 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29027 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29029 @item gnus-news-group-p
29030 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29031 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29033 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29034 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29035 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29037 @item gnus-server-to-method
29038 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29039 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29041 @item gnus-server-equal
29042 @findex gnus-server-equal
29043 Says whether two virtual servers are essentially equal. For instance,
29044 two virtual servers may have server parameters in different order, but
29045 this function will consider them equal.
29047 @item gnus-group-native-p
29048 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29049 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29051 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29052 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29053 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29055 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29056 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29057 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29059 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29060 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29061 Returns the parameter list of @var{group} (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
29062 If given a second parameter, returns the value of that parameter for
29065 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29066 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29067 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29069 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29070 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29071 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29073 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29074 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29075 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29076 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29079 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29083 @item gnus-read-method
29084 @findex gnus-read-method
29085 Prompts the user for a select method.
29090 @node Back End Interface
29091 @subsection Back End Interface
29093 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29094 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29095 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29096 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29097 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29098 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29100 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29101 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29102 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29103 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29104 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29105 been opened, the function should fail.
29107 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29108 name. Take this example:
29112 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29113 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29116 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29117 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29119 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29120 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29121 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29123 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29124 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29125 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29127 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29128 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29129 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29130 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29131 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29132 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29135 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29136 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29137 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
29138 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29141 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29142 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29143 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29144 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29145 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29146 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29147 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29148 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29149 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29150 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29152 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29153 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29154 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29155 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29156 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29157 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29158 of numbers as long as possible.
29160 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29161 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29162 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29164 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29167 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29170 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29171 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29172 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29173 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29174 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29175 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29179 @node Required Back End Functions
29180 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29184 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29186 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29187 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29188 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29189 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29191 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29192 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29193 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29194 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29196 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29197 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29198 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29199 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29200 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29201 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29202 number, do maximum fetches.
29204 Here's an example HEAD:
29207 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29208 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29209 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29210 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29211 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29212 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29213 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29215 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29216 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29217 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29221 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29222 these in the data buffer.
29224 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29228 head = error / valid-head
29229 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29230 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29231 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29232 header = <text> eol
29236 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29238 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29239 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29243 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29244 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29245 field = <text except TAB>
29248 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29252 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29254 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29255 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29257 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29258 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29259 server. In fact, it should do so.
29261 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29262 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29265 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29267 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29268 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29271 There should be no data returned.
29274 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29276 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29277 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29278 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29279 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29281 There should be no data returned.
29284 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29286 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29287 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29288 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29289 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29291 There should be no data returned.
29294 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29296 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29298 There should be no data returned.
29301 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29303 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29304 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29305 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29306 it would be nice if that were possible.
29308 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29309 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29310 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29311 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29312 into its article buffer.
29314 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29315 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29316 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29317 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29318 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29319 on successful article retrieval.
29322 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
29324 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29325 making @var{group} the current group.
29327 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29330 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
29333 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29336 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29339 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29340 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29341 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29342 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29343 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29344 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29345 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29346 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29347 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29351 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29352 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29353 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29357 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29359 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29360 a no-op on most back ends.
29362 There should be no data returned.
29365 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29367 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29370 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29373 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29374 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29377 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29378 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29379 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29380 and the highest as 0.
29383 active-file = *active-line
29384 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29386 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29389 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29390 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29391 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29394 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29396 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29397 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29398 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29399 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29400 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29401 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29403 There should be no result data from this function.
29408 @node Optional Back End Functions
29409 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29413 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29415 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29416 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29417 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29419 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29420 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29421 former is in the same format as the data from
29422 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29423 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29426 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29430 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29432 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29433 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29434 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29435 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29436 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29437 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29438 the network resources).
29440 There should be no result data from this function.
29443 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29445 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29446 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29447 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29448 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29449 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29450 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29451 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29452 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29454 There should be no result data from this function.
29457 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29459 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29460 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29461 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29462 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29463 propagate the mark information to the server.
29465 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29468 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29471 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29472 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29473 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29474 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29475 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29476 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend}, and
29477 @code{forward}, but your back end should, if possible, not limit
29480 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29481 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29482 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29483 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29485 An example action list:
29488 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29489 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29490 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29493 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29494 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29496 There should be no result data from this function.
29498 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29500 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29501 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29502 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29503 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29504 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29506 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29507 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29508 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29511 There should be no result data from this function.
29514 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29516 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29517 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29518 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29519 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29520 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29521 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29522 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29523 local if that's practical.
29525 There should be no result data from this function.
29528 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29530 The result data from this function should be a description of
29534 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29536 description = <text>
29539 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29541 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29542 groups available on the server.
29545 description-buffer = *description-line
29549 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29551 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29552 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29553 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29554 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29555 in the active buffer format.
29557 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29558 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29559 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29560 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29561 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29562 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29563 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29566 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29568 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29570 There should be no return data.
29573 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29575 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29576 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29577 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29578 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29579 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29582 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29585 There should be no result data returned.
29588 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29590 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29591 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29593 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29594 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29595 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29596 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29597 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29598 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29600 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29601 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29604 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29605 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29607 There should be no data returned.
29610 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29612 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29613 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29614 this function in short order.
29616 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29617 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29619 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29620 article for that group.
29622 There should be no data returned.
29625 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29627 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29628 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29630 There should be no data returned.
29633 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29635 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29636 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29637 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29639 There should be no data returned.
29642 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29644 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29645 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29647 There should be no data returned.
29652 @node Error Messaging
29653 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29655 @findex nnheader-report
29656 @findex nnheader-get-report
29657 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29658 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29659 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29660 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29661 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29662 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29665 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29667 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29670 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29671 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29672 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29673 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29675 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29676 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29677 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29680 @node Writing New Back Ends
29681 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29683 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29684 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29685 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29686 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29687 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29690 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29691 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29692 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29694 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29695 package called @code{nnoo}.
29697 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29698 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29704 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29705 parameters. For instance:
29708 (nnoo-declare nndir
29712 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29713 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29716 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29717 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29718 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29720 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29721 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29722 a function in those back ends.
29725 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29726 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29727 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29730 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29731 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29732 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29734 @item nnoo-define-basics
29735 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
29739 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29743 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
29744 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
29745 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
29747 @item nnoo-map-functions
29748 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
29749 functions from the parent back ends.
29752 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29753 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29754 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
29757 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
29758 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
29759 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
29760 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
29763 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
29764 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
29765 haven't already been defined.
29771 nnmh-request-newgroups)
29775 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
29776 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
29777 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
29782 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
29785 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
29786 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
29790 (require 'nnheader)
29794 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
29796 (nnoo-declare nndir
29799 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29800 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29801 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29803 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
29804 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
29807 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
29809 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
29810 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
29811 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
29813 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
29814 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
29816 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
29818 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29820 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
29821 (setq nndir-directory
29822 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
29824 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
29825 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
29826 (push `(nndir-current-group
29827 ,(file-name-nondirectory
29828 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29830 (push `(nndir-top-directory
29831 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29833 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
29835 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29836 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29837 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29838 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
29839 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
29843 nnmh-status-message
29845 nnmh-request-newgroups))
29851 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29852 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29854 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
29855 @findex gnus-declare-backend
29856 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
29857 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
29858 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
29860 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
29861 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
29866 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
29869 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
29871 The abilities can be:
29875 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
29877 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
29879 This back end supports both mail and news.
29881 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
29884 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
29885 articles and groups.
29887 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
29888 true for almost all back ends.
29889 @item prompt-address
29890 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
29891 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
29892 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
29896 @node Mail-like Back Ends
29897 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
29899 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
29900 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
29901 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
29902 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
29905 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
29906 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
29907 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
29910 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
29911 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
29914 This function takes four parameters.
29918 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
29921 @item exit-function
29922 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
29924 @item temp-directory
29925 Where the temporary files should be stored.
29928 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
29929 performed for one group only.
29932 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
29933 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
29934 find the article number assigned to this article.
29936 The function also uses the following variables:
29937 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
29938 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
29939 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
29940 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
29944 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
29945 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
29949 @node Score File Syntax
29950 @subsection Score File Syntax
29952 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
29953 malleable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
29954 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
29956 Here's a typical score file:
29960 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
29967 BNF definition of a score file:
29970 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
29971 element = rule / atom
29972 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
29973 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
29974 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
29975 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
29977 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
29978 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
29979 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
29980 date-header = "date"
29981 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29982 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29983 score = "nil" / <integer>
29984 date = "nil" / <natural number>
29985 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
29986 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
29987 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
29988 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
29989 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29990 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29991 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
29992 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29993 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
29994 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
29995 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
29996 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
29997 exclude-files / read-only / touched
29998 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
29999 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30000 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30001 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30002 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30003 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30004 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30005 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30006 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30007 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30008 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30009 eval = "eval" space <form>
30010 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30013 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30016 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30017 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30018 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30019 one looong line, then that's ok.
30021 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30022 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30026 @subsection Headers
30028 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30029 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30030 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30031 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30033 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30034 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30035 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30036 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30037 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30038 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30039 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30041 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30042 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30043 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30044 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30045 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30047 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30048 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30054 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30055 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30057 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30058 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30059 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30060 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30062 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30066 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30069 is transformed into
30072 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30075 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30076 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30079 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30082 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30083 is slightly tricky:
30086 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30092 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30095 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30101 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30108 and is equal to the previous range.
30110 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30111 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30112 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30116 range = simple-range / normal-range
30117 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30118 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30119 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30120 number *[ " " contents ]
30123 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30124 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30125 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30126 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30127 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30132 @subsection Group Info
30134 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30135 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30136 describes the group.
30138 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30139 second is a more complex one:
30142 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30144 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30145 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30147 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30150 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30151 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30152 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30153 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30154 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30155 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30156 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30157 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30158 this section is about.
30160 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30161 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30162 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30164 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30167 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30168 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30169 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30170 group = quote <string> quote
30171 ralevel = rank / level
30172 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30173 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30174 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30176 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30177 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30178 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30179 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30182 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30183 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30186 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30187 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30190 @item gnus-info-group
30191 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30192 @findex gnus-info-group
30193 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30194 Get/set the group name.
30196 @item gnus-info-rank
30197 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30198 @findex gnus-info-rank
30199 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30200 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30202 @item gnus-info-level
30203 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30204 @findex gnus-info-level
30205 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30206 Get/set the group level.
30208 @item gnus-info-score
30209 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30210 @findex gnus-info-score
30211 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30212 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30214 @item gnus-info-read
30215 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30216 @findex gnus-info-read
30217 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30218 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30220 @item gnus-info-marks
30221 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30222 @findex gnus-info-marks
30223 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30224 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30226 @item gnus-info-method
30227 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30228 @findex gnus-info-method
30229 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30230 Get/set the group select method.
30232 @item gnus-info-params
30233 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30234 @findex gnus-info-params
30235 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30236 Get/set the group parameters.
30239 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30240 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30242 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30243 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30244 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30245 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30248 @node Extended Interactive
30249 @subsection Extended Interactive
30250 @cindex interactive
30251 @findex gnus-interactive
30253 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30254 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30255 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30258 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30259 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30264 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30265 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30266 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30267 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30268 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30269 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30270 @code{interactive}.
30272 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30277 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30278 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30282 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30283 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30284 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30287 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30291 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30295 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30301 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30302 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30306 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30307 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30308 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30310 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30311 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30312 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30313 Gnus, that's very useful.
30315 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30316 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30317 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30318 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30319 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30320 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30321 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30322 following function:
30325 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30329 (,function ,@@args))
30333 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30334 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30335 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30338 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30339 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30340 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30342 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30343 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30344 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30347 @node Various File Formats
30348 @subsection Various File Formats
30351 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30352 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30356 @node Active File Format
30357 @subsubsection Active File Format
30359 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30360 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30363 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30366 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30367 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30368 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30369 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30370 no.general 1000 900 y
30373 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30376 active = *group-line
30377 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30378 group = <non-white-space string>
30380 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30381 low-number = <positive integer>
30382 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30385 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30386 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30389 @node Newsgroups File Format
30390 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30392 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30393 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30394 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30397 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30398 Here's the definition:
30402 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30403 group = <non-white-space string>
30405 description = <string>
30410 @node Emacs for Heathens
30411 @section Emacs for Heathens
30413 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30414 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30415 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30416 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30417 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30418 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30419 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30423 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30424 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30429 @subsection Keystrokes
30433 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30436 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30439 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30440 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30441 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30442 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30443 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30444 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30446 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30447 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30448 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30449 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30450 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30451 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30452 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30454 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30455 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30456 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30457 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30458 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30459 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30460 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30462 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30463 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30464 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30465 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30466 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30472 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30474 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30475 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30476 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30477 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30479 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30480 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30481 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30482 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30483 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30484 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30485 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30486 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30487 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30488 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30490 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30491 write the following:
30494 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30497 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30498 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30499 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30500 change how Gnus works.
30502 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30503 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30504 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30505 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30506 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30508 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30509 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30510 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30514 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30518 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30521 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server-file} to
30522 @samp{/etc/nntpserver}'', that means:
30525 (setq gnus-nntp-server-file "/etc/nntpserver")
30528 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30529 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30532 @include gnus-faq.texi
30534 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30535 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30536 @include doclicense.texi
30554 @c Local Variables: