1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- -*- coding: iso-latin-1 -*-
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
20 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
21 \usepackage{pagestyle}
29 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
30 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
32 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
34 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
35 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
37 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
38 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
40 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}}
41 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
42 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}''}
43 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
44 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
45 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
46 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
47 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
50 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
51 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
52 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
53 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
54 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
56 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
57 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
58 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
59 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
60 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
61 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
62 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
63 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
64 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
65 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
66 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
67 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
68 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
70 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head.eps,height=1cm}}}
71 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
72 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
75 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
77 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
84 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
86 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
88 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
89 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
92 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
93 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
94 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
99 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
101 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
108 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
109 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1cm}}}
112 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
113 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
116 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
117 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
120 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
121 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
124 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
126 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
127 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
131 \newenvironment{codelist}%
136 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
142 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
147 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
152 \newenvironment{samplist}%
157 \newenvironment{varlist}%
162 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
167 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
168 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
169 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
171 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
176 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
180 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
189 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
191 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
196 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
201 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
205 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
213 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
215 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
225 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
229 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
237 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
239 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
244 \pagenumbering{roman}
245 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
255 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
256 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
258 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
260 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\\
263 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=15cm}
266 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
273 \thispagestyle{empty}
275 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
276 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
279 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
280 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
281 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
282 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
283 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
284 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
285 License'' in the Emacs manual.
287 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
288 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
289 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
291 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
292 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
293 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
294 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
302 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
304 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
306 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
307 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
308 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
309 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
310 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
311 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
312 License'' in the Emacs manual.
314 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
315 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
316 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
318 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
319 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
320 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
321 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
329 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
332 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
333 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
335 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
336 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
337 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
338 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
339 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
340 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
341 License'' in the Emacs manual.
343 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
344 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
345 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
347 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
348 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
349 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
350 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
359 @top The Gnus Newsreader
363 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
364 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
365 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
368 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.01.
379 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
380 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
382 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
383 being accused of plagiarism:
385 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
386 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
387 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
388 can even read news with it!
390 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
391 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
392 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
393 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
394 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
400 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
401 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
402 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
403 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
404 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
405 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
406 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
407 * Various:: General purpose settings.
408 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
409 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
410 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
411 * Key Index:: Key Index.
414 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
418 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
419 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
420 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
421 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
422 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
423 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
424 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
425 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
426 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
427 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
428 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
432 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
433 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
434 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
438 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
439 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
440 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
441 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
442 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
443 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
444 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
445 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
446 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
447 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
448 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
449 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
450 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
451 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
452 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
453 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
454 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
458 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
459 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
460 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
464 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
465 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
466 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
467 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
468 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
472 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
473 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
474 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
475 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
479 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
480 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
481 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
482 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
483 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
484 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
485 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
486 * Threading:: How threads are made.
487 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
488 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
489 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
490 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
491 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
492 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
493 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
494 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
495 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
496 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
497 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
498 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
499 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
500 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
501 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
502 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
503 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
504 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
505 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
506 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
507 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
509 Summary Buffer Format
511 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
512 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
513 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
514 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
518 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
519 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
521 Reply, Followup and Post
523 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
524 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
525 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
526 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
530 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
531 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
532 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
533 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
534 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
535 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
539 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
540 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
542 Customizing Threading
544 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
545 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
546 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
547 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
551 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
552 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
553 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
554 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
555 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
556 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
560 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
561 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
562 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
566 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
567 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
568 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
569 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
570 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
571 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
572 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
573 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
575 Alternative Approaches
577 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
578 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
580 Various Summary Stuff
582 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
583 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
584 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
585 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
589 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
590 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
591 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
592 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
593 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
597 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
598 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
599 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
600 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
601 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
602 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
603 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
604 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
608 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
609 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
610 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
611 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
612 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
613 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
614 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
618 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
619 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
620 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
621 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
622 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
623 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
624 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
628 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
629 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
633 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
634 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
635 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
636 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
637 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
638 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
639 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
640 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
641 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
642 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
643 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
644 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
645 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
649 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
650 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
651 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
653 Choosing a Mail Backend
655 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
656 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
657 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
658 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
659 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
660 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
664 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
665 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
666 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
667 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
671 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
672 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
673 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
674 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
675 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
676 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
680 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
684 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
685 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
686 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
690 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
691 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
692 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
696 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
697 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
701 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
702 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
703 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
704 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
705 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
706 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
707 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
708 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
709 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
710 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
714 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
715 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
716 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
720 * Group Agent Commands::
721 * Summary Agent Commands::
722 * Server Agent Commands::
726 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
727 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
728 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
729 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
730 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
731 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
732 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
733 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
734 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
735 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
736 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
737 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
738 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
739 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
740 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
741 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
745 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
746 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
747 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
748 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
752 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
753 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
754 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
758 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
759 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
760 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
761 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
762 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
763 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
764 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
765 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
766 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
767 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
768 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
769 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
770 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
771 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
772 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
773 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
774 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
775 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
779 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
780 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
781 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
782 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
783 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
787 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
788 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
789 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
790 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
794 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
795 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
796 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
797 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
798 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
802 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
803 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
804 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
805 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
806 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
807 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
808 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
809 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
813 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
814 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
815 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
816 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
817 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
818 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
819 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
820 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
821 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
825 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
826 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
827 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
828 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
829 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
833 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
834 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
835 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
836 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
840 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
841 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
842 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
843 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
844 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
845 * Group Info:: The group info format.
846 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
847 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
848 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
852 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
853 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
854 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
855 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
856 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
857 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
861 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
862 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
866 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
867 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
873 @chapter Starting Gnus
878 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
879 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
882 @findex gnus-other-frame
883 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
884 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
885 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
887 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
888 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
889 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
891 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
892 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
895 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
896 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
897 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
898 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
899 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
900 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
901 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
902 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
903 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
904 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
905 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
909 @node Finding the News
910 @section Finding the News
913 @vindex gnus-select-method
915 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
916 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
917 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
918 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
921 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
922 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
925 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
928 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
931 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
934 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
935 certainly be much faster.
937 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
939 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
940 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
941 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
942 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
943 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
944 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
946 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
947 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
948 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
949 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
951 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
952 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
953 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
954 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
955 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
956 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
957 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
958 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
959 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
962 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
964 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
965 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
966 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
967 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
968 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
969 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
971 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
973 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
974 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
975 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
976 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
977 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
978 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
981 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
982 would typically set this variable to
985 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
990 @section The First Time
991 @cindex first time usage
993 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
994 be subscribed by default.
996 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
997 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
998 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
999 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1002 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1003 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1004 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1006 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1007 help you with most common problems.
1009 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1010 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1014 @node The Server is Down
1015 @section The Server is Down
1016 @cindex server errors
1018 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1019 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1020 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1022 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1023 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1024 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1025 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1026 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1027 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1028 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1030 @findex gnus-no-server
1031 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1033 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1034 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1035 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1036 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1037 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1038 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1039 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1043 @section Slave Gnusae
1046 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1047 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1048 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1049 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1051 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1052 @code{.newsrc} file.
1054 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1055 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1056 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1057 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1058 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1059 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1060 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1062 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1063 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1064 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1065 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1066 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1067 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1068 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1069 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1071 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1072 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1075 @node Fetching a Group
1076 @section Fetching a Group
1077 @cindex fetching a group
1079 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1080 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1081 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1082 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1083 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1084 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1090 @cindex subscription
1092 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1093 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1094 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1095 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1096 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1097 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1098 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1099 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1100 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1103 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1104 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1105 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1109 @node Checking New Groups
1110 @subsection Checking New Groups
1112 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1113 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1114 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1115 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1116 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1117 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1118 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1119 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1120 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1121 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1123 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1124 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1125 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1126 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1127 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1128 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1129 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1130 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1131 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1132 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1133 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1135 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1136 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1137 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1138 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1139 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1140 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1143 @node Subscription Methods
1144 @subsection Subscription Methods
1146 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1147 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1148 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1150 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1151 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1153 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1157 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1158 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1159 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1160 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1161 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1163 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1164 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1165 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1166 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1168 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1169 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1170 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1172 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1173 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1174 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1175 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1176 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1177 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1178 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1179 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1180 up. Or something like that.
1182 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1183 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1184 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1185 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1186 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1188 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1189 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1190 Kill all new groups.
1192 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1193 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1194 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1195 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1196 topic parameter that looks like
1202 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1205 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1211 A closely related variable is
1212 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1213 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1214 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1215 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1218 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1219 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1220 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1221 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1224 @node Filtering New Groups
1225 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1227 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1228 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1229 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1232 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1236 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1237 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1238 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1239 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1240 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1241 subscribing these groups.
1242 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1243 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1245 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1246 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1247 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1248 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1249 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1250 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1251 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1252 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1254 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1255 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1256 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1257 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1258 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1259 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1260 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1261 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1262 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1263 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1265 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1269 @node Changing Servers
1270 @section Changing Servers
1271 @cindex changing servers
1273 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1274 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1275 very flaky and you want to use another.
1277 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1278 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1282 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1283 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1284 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1285 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1288 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1289 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1290 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1291 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1293 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1294 @findex gnus-change-server
1295 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1296 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1297 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1298 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1299 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1301 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1302 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1303 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1304 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1305 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1307 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1308 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1309 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1310 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1311 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1312 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1314 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1315 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1316 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1320 @section Startup Files
1321 @cindex startup files
1326 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1327 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1329 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1330 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1331 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1332 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1333 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1334 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1335 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1337 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1338 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1339 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1340 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1341 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1342 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1344 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1345 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1346 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1347 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1348 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1349 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1350 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1351 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1352 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1353 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1355 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1356 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1357 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1358 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1359 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1360 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1361 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1362 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1363 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1364 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1365 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1366 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1368 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1369 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1370 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1371 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1373 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1374 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1375 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1376 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1377 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1378 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1379 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1380 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1381 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1382 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1385 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1386 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1388 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1389 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1392 @vindex gnus-init-file
1393 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1394 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1395 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1396 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1397 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1398 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1399 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1400 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1401 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1407 @cindex dribble file
1410 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1411 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1412 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1413 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1414 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1417 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1418 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1421 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1422 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1423 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1425 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1426 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1427 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1428 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1429 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1430 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1432 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1433 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1434 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1437 @node The Active File
1438 @section The Active File
1440 @cindex ignored groups
1442 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1443 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1444 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1446 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1447 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1448 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1449 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1450 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1451 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1452 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1455 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1456 @c if you set it to anything else.
1458 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1460 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1461 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1462 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1464 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1465 you actually subscribe to.
1467 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1468 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1469 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1470 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1472 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1473 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1474 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1475 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1476 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1477 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1479 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1480 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1481 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1484 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1485 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1486 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1487 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1488 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1489 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1491 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1492 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1494 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1495 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1497 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1498 secondary select methods.
1501 @node Startup Variables
1502 @section Startup Variables
1506 @item gnus-load-hook
1507 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1508 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1509 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1510 times you start Gnus.
1512 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1513 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1514 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1516 @item gnus-startup-hook
1517 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1518 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1520 @item gnus-started-hook
1521 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1522 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1525 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1526 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1527 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1528 generating the group buffer.
1530 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1531 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1532 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1533 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1534 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1535 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1536 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1537 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1539 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1540 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1541 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1542 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1543 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1544 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1546 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1547 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1548 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1550 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1551 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1552 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1554 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1555 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1556 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1557 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1563 @chapter Group Buffer
1564 @cindex group buffer
1566 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1567 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1568 long as Gnus is active.
1572 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1573 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1574 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1575 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1576 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1577 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1578 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1579 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1585 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1586 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1587 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1588 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1589 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1590 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1591 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1592 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1593 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1594 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1595 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1596 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1597 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1598 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1599 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1600 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1601 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1605 @node Group Buffer Format
1606 @section Group Buffer Format
1609 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1610 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1611 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1615 @node Group Line Specification
1616 @subsection Group Line Specification
1617 @cindex group buffer format
1619 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1620 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1622 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1625 25: news.announce.newusers
1626 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1631 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1632 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1633 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1634 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1636 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1637 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1638 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1639 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1640 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1641 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1643 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1645 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1646 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1647 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1648 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1651 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1652 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1653 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1655 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1660 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1663 Whether the group is subscribed.
1666 Level of subscribedness.
1669 Number of unread articles.
1672 Number of dormant articles.
1675 Number of ticked articles.
1678 Number of read articles.
1681 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1682 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1685 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1688 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1697 Newsgroup description.
1700 @samp{m} if moderated.
1703 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1712 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1716 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1719 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1720 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1721 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1722 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1723 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1726 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1728 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1732 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1735 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1739 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1740 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1741 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1742 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1743 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1744 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1749 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1750 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1751 group, or a bogus native group.
1754 @node Group Modeline Specification
1755 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1756 @cindex group modeline
1758 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1759 The mode line can be changed by setting
1760 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1761 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1765 The native news server.
1767 The native select method.
1771 @node Group Highlighting
1772 @subsection Group Highlighting
1773 @cindex highlighting
1774 @cindex group highlighting
1776 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1777 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1778 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1779 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1780 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1782 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1786 (cond (window-system
1787 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1788 (defface my-group-face-1
1789 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1790 (defface my-group-face-2
1791 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1792 (defface my-group-face-3
1793 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1794 (defface my-group-face-4
1795 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1796 (defface my-group-face-5
1797 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1799 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1800 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1801 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1802 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1803 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1804 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1807 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1809 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1816 The number of unread articles in the group.
1820 Whether the group is a mail group.
1822 The level of the group.
1824 The score of the group.
1826 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1828 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1829 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1831 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1832 topic being inserted.
1835 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1836 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1837 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1839 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1840 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1841 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1842 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1843 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1846 @node Group Maneuvering
1847 @section Group Maneuvering
1848 @cindex group movement
1850 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1851 expected, hopefully.
1857 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1858 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1859 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1865 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1866 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1867 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1871 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1872 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1876 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1877 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1881 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1882 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1883 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1887 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1888 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1889 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1892 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1898 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1899 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1900 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1905 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1906 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1907 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1911 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1912 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1913 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1916 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1917 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1918 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1919 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1923 @node Selecting a Group
1924 @section Selecting a Group
1925 @cindex group selection
1930 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1931 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1932 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1933 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1934 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1935 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1936 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1937 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1938 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1939 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1941 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
1942 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
1943 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
1945 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
1946 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
1951 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1952 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1953 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1954 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1955 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1959 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1960 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1961 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1962 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1963 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1964 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1965 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1966 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1967 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1968 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1971 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1972 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1973 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1974 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1975 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1978 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1979 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1980 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1981 doing any processing of its contents
1982 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1983 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1984 manner will have no permanent effects.
1988 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1989 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1990 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1991 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1992 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1993 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1994 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1995 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1998 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1999 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2000 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2001 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2006 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2007 full summary buffer.
2010 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2013 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2018 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2019 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2020 Useful functions include:
2023 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2024 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2025 don't select the article.
2027 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2028 Select the first unread article.
2030 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2031 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2035 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2036 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2037 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2041 @node Subscription Commands
2042 @section Subscription Commands
2043 @cindex subscription
2051 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2052 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2053 Toggle subscription to the current group
2054 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2060 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2061 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2062 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2063 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2070 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2071 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2077 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2078 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2081 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2082 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2083 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2084 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2085 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2091 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2092 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2096 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2097 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2100 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2101 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2102 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2103 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2104 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2105 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2106 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2107 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2108 @file{.newsrc} file.
2112 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2122 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2123 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2124 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2125 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2126 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2127 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2132 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2133 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2134 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2138 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2139 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2140 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2142 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2143 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2144 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2145 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2146 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2147 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2154 @section Group Levels
2158 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2159 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2160 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2161 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2162 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2164 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2170 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2171 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2172 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2173 prompted for a level.
2176 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2177 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2178 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2179 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2180 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2181 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2182 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2183 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2184 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2185 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2186 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2187 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2188 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2189 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2190 reasons of efficiency.
2192 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2193 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2195 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2196 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2197 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2198 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2199 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2200 groups are hidden, in a way.
2202 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2203 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2204 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2205 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2206 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2207 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2209 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2210 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2211 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2212 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2213 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2214 list of killed groups.)
2216 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2217 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2218 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2220 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2221 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2222 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2223 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2224 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2225 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2226 relevant valid ranges.
2228 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2229 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2230 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2231 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2232 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2233 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2236 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2237 one with the best level.
2239 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2240 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2241 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2244 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2245 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2246 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2247 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2250 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2251 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2252 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2253 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2255 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2256 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2257 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2258 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2259 to 5. The default is 6.
2263 @section Group Score
2268 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2269 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2270 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2273 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2274 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2275 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2276 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2277 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2278 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2279 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2280 least significant part.))
2282 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2283 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2284 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2285 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2286 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2287 action after each summary exit, you can add
2288 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2289 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2290 slow things down somewhat.
2293 @node Marking Groups
2294 @section Marking Groups
2295 @cindex marking groups
2297 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2298 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2299 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2300 bidding on those groups.
2302 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2303 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2304 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2312 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2313 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2319 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2320 Remove the mark from the current group
2321 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2325 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2326 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2330 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2331 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2335 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2336 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2340 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2341 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2342 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2345 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2347 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2348 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2349 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2350 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2351 the command to be executed.
2354 @node Foreign Groups
2355 @section Foreign Groups
2356 @cindex foreign groups
2358 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2359 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2360 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2361 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2368 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2369 @cindex making groups
2370 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2371 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2372 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2376 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2377 @cindex renaming groups
2378 Rename the current group to something else
2379 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2380 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2386 @findex gnus-group-customize
2387 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2391 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2392 @cindex renaming groups
2393 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2394 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2398 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2399 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2400 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2404 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2405 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2406 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2410 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2412 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2413 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2418 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2419 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2423 @cindex (ding) archive
2424 @cindex archive group
2425 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2426 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2427 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2428 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2429 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2430 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2431 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2435 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2437 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2438 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2439 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2440 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2444 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2446 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2447 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2448 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2452 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2453 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2455 Make a group based on some file or other
2456 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2457 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2458 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2459 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2460 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2461 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2462 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2466 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2467 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2468 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2469 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2478 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2479 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2480 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2481 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2482 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2483 @xref{Web Searches}.
2485 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2486 to a particular group by using a match string like
2487 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2490 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2491 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2492 This function will delete the current group
2493 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2494 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2495 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2496 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2497 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2501 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2502 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2503 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2507 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2508 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2509 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2512 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2515 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2516 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2517 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2518 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2519 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2520 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2524 @node Group Parameters
2525 @section Group Parameters
2526 @cindex group parameters
2528 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2529 Here's an example group parameter list:
2532 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2536 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2537 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2538 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2539 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2541 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2542 is an alist of regexps and values.
2544 The following group parameters can be used:
2549 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2552 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2555 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2556 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2557 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2558 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2559 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2561 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2562 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2563 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2564 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2565 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2566 list address instead.
2568 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2572 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2575 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2578 It is totally ignored
2579 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2580 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2582 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2583 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2584 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2585 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2586 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2588 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2589 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2590 sending the message.
2592 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2596 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2597 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2598 of whether it has any unread articles.
2600 @item broken-reply-to
2601 @cindex broken-reply-to
2602 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2603 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2604 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2605 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2606 broken behavior. So there!
2610 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2611 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2615 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2616 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2617 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2622 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2623 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2624 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2625 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2626 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2627 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2628 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2632 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2633 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2634 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2636 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2639 @cindex total-expire
2640 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2641 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2642 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2643 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2646 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2650 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2651 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2652 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2653 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2654 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2655 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2658 @cindex score file group parameter
2659 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2660 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2661 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2664 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2665 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2666 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2667 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2670 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2671 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2672 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2673 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2676 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2677 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2681 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2684 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2689 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2690 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2691 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2695 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2696 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2697 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2699 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2701 @item ignored-charsets
2702 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-known iso-8859-1)}
2703 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2704 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2706 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2709 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2710 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2711 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2712 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2713 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2715 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2716 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2717 like this in the group parameters:
2722 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2726 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2727 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2728 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2729 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2730 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2732 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2733 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2734 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2735 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2736 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2737 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2738 @code{eval}ed there.
2740 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2741 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2742 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2743 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2744 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2748 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2749 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2750 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2751 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2752 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2755 @node Listing Groups
2756 @section Listing Groups
2757 @cindex group listing
2759 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2767 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2768 List all groups that have unread articles
2769 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2770 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2771 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2772 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2779 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2780 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2781 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2782 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2783 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2784 unsubscribed groups).
2788 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2789 List all unread groups on a specific level
2790 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2791 with no unread articles.
2795 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2796 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2797 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2798 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2803 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2804 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2808 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2809 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2810 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2814 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2815 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2819 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2820 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2821 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2822 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2823 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2824 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2825 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2826 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2830 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2831 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2832 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2836 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2837 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2838 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2842 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2843 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2847 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2848 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2852 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2853 List groups limited within the current selection
2854 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
2858 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
2859 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
2863 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
2864 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
2868 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2869 @cindex visible group parameter
2870 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2871 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2872 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2873 get the same effect.
2875 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2876 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2877 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2878 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2879 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2882 @node Sorting Groups
2883 @section Sorting Groups
2884 @cindex sorting groups
2886 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2887 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2888 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2889 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2890 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2891 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2896 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2897 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2898 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2900 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2901 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2902 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2904 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2905 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2906 Sort by group level.
2908 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2909 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2910 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2912 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2914 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2915 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2917 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2918 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2919 Sort by number of unread articles.
2921 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2922 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2923 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2925 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
2926 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
2927 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
2932 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2933 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2937 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2938 some sorting criteria:
2942 @kindex G S a (Group)
2943 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2944 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2945 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2948 @kindex G S u (Group)
2949 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2950 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2951 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2954 @kindex G S l (Group)
2955 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2956 Sort the group buffer by group level
2957 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2960 @kindex G S v (Group)
2961 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2962 Sort the group buffer by group score
2963 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2966 @kindex G S r (Group)
2967 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2968 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2969 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2972 @kindex G S m (Group)
2973 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2974 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2975 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2979 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2980 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2982 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2983 commands will sort in reverse order.
2985 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2989 @kindex G P a (Group)
2990 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2991 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2992 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2995 @kindex G P u (Group)
2996 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2997 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2998 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3001 @kindex G P l (Group)
3002 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3003 Sort the groups by group level
3004 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3007 @kindex G P v (Group)
3008 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3009 Sort the groups by group score
3010 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3013 @kindex G P r (Group)
3014 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3015 Sort the groups by group rank
3016 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3019 @kindex G P m (Group)
3020 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3021 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
3022 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3028 @node Group Maintenance
3029 @section Group Maintenance
3030 @cindex bogus groups
3035 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3036 Find bogus groups and delete them
3037 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3041 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3042 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3043 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3044 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3045 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3049 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3050 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3051 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3052 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
3055 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3056 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3057 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
3058 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3063 @node Browse Foreign Server
3064 @section Browse Foreign Server
3065 @cindex foreign servers
3066 @cindex browsing servers
3071 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3072 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3073 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3074 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3077 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3078 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3079 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3080 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3082 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3087 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3088 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3092 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3093 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3096 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3097 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3098 Enter the current group and display the first article
3099 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3102 @kindex RET (Browse)
3103 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3104 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3108 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3109 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3110 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3116 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3117 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3121 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3122 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3123 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3128 @section Exiting Gnus
3129 @cindex exiting Gnus
3131 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3136 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3137 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3138 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3139 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3143 @findex gnus-group-exit
3144 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3145 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3149 @findex gnus-group-quit
3150 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3151 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3154 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3155 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3156 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3157 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3158 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3163 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3164 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3165 trying to customize meta-variables.
3170 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3171 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3172 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3178 @section Group Topics
3181 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3182 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3183 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3184 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3185 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3186 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3190 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3191 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3202 2: alt.religion.emacs
3205 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3207 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3208 13: comp.sources.unix
3211 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3213 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3214 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3215 is a toggling command.)
3217 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3218 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3219 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3220 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3223 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3224 the hook for the group mode:
3227 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3231 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3232 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3233 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3234 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3235 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3239 @node Topic Variables
3240 @subsection Topic Variables
3241 @cindex topic variables
3243 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3244 really neat, I think.
3246 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3247 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3248 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3261 Number of groups in the topic.
3263 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3265 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3268 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3269 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3270 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3273 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3274 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3276 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3277 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3278 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3281 @node Topic Commands
3282 @subsection Topic Commands
3283 @cindex topic commands
3285 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3286 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3287 definitions slightly.
3293 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3294 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3295 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3299 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3300 Move the current group to some other topic
3301 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3302 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3306 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3307 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3311 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3312 Copy the current group to some other topic
3313 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3314 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3318 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3319 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3320 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3324 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3325 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3326 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3330 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3331 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3332 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3333 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3334 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3335 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3336 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3339 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3340 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3344 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3345 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3346 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3350 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3351 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3352 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3356 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3357 Toggle hiding empty topics
3358 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3362 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3363 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3364 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3367 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3368 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3369 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3370 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3374 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3376 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3377 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3378 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3379 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3382 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3383 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3384 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3385 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3389 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3391 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3392 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3393 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3394 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3395 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3396 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3399 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3400 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3401 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3402 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3406 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3407 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3408 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3412 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3413 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3414 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3419 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3420 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3423 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3424 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3425 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3429 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3430 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3431 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3435 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3436 @cindex group parameters
3437 @cindex topic parameters
3439 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3440 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3446 @subsection Topic Sorting
3447 @cindex topic sorting
3449 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3455 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3456 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3457 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3458 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3461 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3462 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3463 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3464 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3467 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3468 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3469 Sort the current topic by group level
3470 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3473 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3474 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3475 Sort the current topic by group score
3476 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3479 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3480 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3481 Sort the current topic by group rank
3482 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3485 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3486 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3487 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3488 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3492 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3495 @node Topic Topology
3496 @subsection Topic Topology
3497 @cindex topic topology
3500 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3506 2: alt.religion.emacs
3509 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3511 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3512 13: comp.sources.unix
3515 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3516 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3517 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3522 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3523 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3527 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3528 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3529 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3530 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3531 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3532 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3534 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3535 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3536 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3539 @node Topic Parameters
3540 @subsection Topic Parameters
3541 @cindex topic parameters
3543 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3544 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3545 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3547 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3552 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3553 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3554 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3559 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3560 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3561 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3562 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3568 2: alt.religion.emacs
3572 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3574 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3575 13: comp.sources.unix
3579 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3580 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3581 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3582 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3583 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3584 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3586 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3587 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3588 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3589 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3590 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3592 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3593 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3594 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3595 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3596 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3597 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3598 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3599 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3602 @node Misc Group Stuff
3603 @section Misc Group Stuff
3606 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3607 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3608 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3609 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3616 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3617 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3618 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3622 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3623 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3624 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3628 @findex gnus-group-mail
3629 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3633 Variables for the group buffer:
3637 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3638 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3639 is called after the group buffer has been
3642 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3643 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3644 is called after the group buffer is
3645 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3648 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3649 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3650 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3651 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3653 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3654 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3655 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3656 whether they are empty or not.
3658 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3659 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3660 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3661 non-ASCII group names.
3665 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3666 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3669 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3670 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3671 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3672 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3676 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3677 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3682 @node Scanning New Messages
3683 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3684 @cindex new messages
3685 @cindex scanning new news
3691 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3692 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3693 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3694 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3695 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3696 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3701 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3702 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3703 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3704 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3705 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3706 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3707 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3709 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3710 @cindex activating groups
3712 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3713 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3718 @findex gnus-group-restart
3719 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3720 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3721 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3725 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3726 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3728 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3729 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3733 @node Group Information
3734 @subsection Group Information
3735 @cindex group information
3736 @cindex information on groups
3743 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3744 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3747 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3748 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3749 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3750 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3751 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3752 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3753 for fetching the file.
3755 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3756 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3760 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3762 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3763 @cindex describing groups
3764 @cindex group description
3765 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3766 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3767 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3771 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3772 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3773 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3780 @findex gnus-version
3781 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3785 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3786 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3789 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3792 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3793 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3797 @node Group Timestamp
3798 @subsection Group Timestamp
3800 @cindex group timestamps
3802 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3803 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3804 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3807 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3810 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3812 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3813 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3816 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3817 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3820 This will result in lines looking like:
3823 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3824 0: custom 19961002T012713
3827 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3828 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3832 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3833 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3838 @subsection File Commands
3839 @cindex file commands
3845 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3846 @vindex gnus-init-file
3847 @cindex reading init file
3848 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3849 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3853 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3854 @cindex saving .newsrc
3855 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3856 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3857 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3860 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3861 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3862 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3867 @node Summary Buffer
3868 @chapter Summary Buffer
3869 @cindex summary buffer
3871 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3872 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3874 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3875 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3877 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3880 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3881 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3882 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3883 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3884 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3885 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3886 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3887 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3888 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3889 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3890 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3891 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3892 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3893 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3894 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3895 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3896 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3897 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3898 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3899 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3900 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3901 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3902 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3903 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3904 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3905 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
3906 or reselecting the current group.
3907 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3908 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3909 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
3913 @node Summary Buffer Format
3914 @section Summary Buffer Format
3915 @cindex summary buffer format
3919 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3920 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3921 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3927 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3928 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3929 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3930 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3933 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3934 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3935 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3936 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3937 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3938 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3939 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3940 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3941 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3942 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3943 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3946 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3947 'mail-extract-address-components)
3950 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3951 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3952 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3953 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3956 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3957 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3959 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3960 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3961 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3962 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3963 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3965 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3967 The following format specification characters are understood:
3973 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3974 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3976 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3977 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3978 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3980 Full @code{From} header.
3982 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3984 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3985 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3987 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3988 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3989 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3990 may be more thorough.
3992 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3995 Number of lines in the article.
3997 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3998 methods (like nnfolder).
4000 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4002 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4003 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4005 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4006 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4008 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4009 for adopted articles.
4011 One space for each thread level.
4013 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4018 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4019 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4023 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4025 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4026 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4027 default level. If the difference between
4028 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4029 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4037 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4039 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4045 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4046 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4048 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4049 article has any children.
4055 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4056 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4057 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4058 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4059 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4060 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4063 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4064 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4065 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4066 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4067 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4068 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4070 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4071 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4073 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4076 @node To From Newsgroups
4077 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4081 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4082 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4083 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4084 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4085 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4089 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4090 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4091 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4095 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4096 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4099 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4100 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4103 @findex gnus-extra-header
4104 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4105 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4106 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4109 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4113 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4114 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4115 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4116 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4117 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4118 headers are used instead.
4122 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4123 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4124 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4125 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4128 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4129 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4130 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4131 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4133 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4137 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4139 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4140 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4141 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4142 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4146 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4147 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4154 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4155 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4158 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4159 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4161 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4162 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4163 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4164 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4166 Here are the elements you can play with:
4172 Unprefixed group name.
4174 Current article number.
4176 Current article score.
4180 Number of unread articles in this group.
4182 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4185 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4186 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4187 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4188 and no unselected ones.
4190 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4191 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4193 Subject of the current article.
4195 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4197 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4199 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4201 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4203 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4205 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4209 @node Summary Highlighting
4210 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4214 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4215 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4216 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4217 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4218 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4220 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4221 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4222 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4223 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4225 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4226 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4227 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4228 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4230 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4231 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4232 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4233 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4234 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4235 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4238 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4239 ((> score default) . bold))
4241 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4242 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4246 @node Summary Maneuvering
4247 @section Summary Maneuvering
4248 @cindex summary movement
4250 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4251 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4253 None of these commands select articles.
4258 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4259 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4260 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4261 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4262 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4266 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4267 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4268 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4269 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4270 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4273 @kindex G g (Summary)
4274 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4275 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4276 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4279 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4280 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4281 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4282 to the group buffer.
4284 Variables related to summary movement:
4288 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4289 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4290 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4291 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4292 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4293 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4294 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4295 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4296 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4297 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4298 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4299 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4300 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4301 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4303 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4304 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4305 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4306 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4307 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4308 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4309 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4311 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4313 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4314 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4315 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4316 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4317 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4319 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4320 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4321 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4322 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4323 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4324 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4325 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4326 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4329 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4330 the given number of lines from the top.
4335 @node Choosing Articles
4336 @section Choosing Articles
4337 @cindex selecting articles
4340 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4341 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4345 @node Choosing Commands
4346 @subsection Choosing Commands
4348 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4349 and they all select and display an article.
4351 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4352 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4356 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4357 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4358 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4359 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4364 @kindex G n (Summary)
4365 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4366 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4367 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4372 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4373 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4374 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4379 @kindex G N (Summary)
4380 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4381 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4386 @kindex G P (Summary)
4387 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4388 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4391 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4393 Go to the next article with the same subject
4394 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4397 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4398 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4399 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4400 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4404 @kindex G f (Summary)
4406 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4407 Go to the first unread article
4408 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4412 @kindex G b (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4415 Go to the article with the highest score
4416 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4421 @kindex G l (Summary)
4422 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4423 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4426 @kindex G o (Summary)
4427 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4429 @cindex article history
4430 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4431 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4432 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4433 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4434 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4435 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4440 @kindex G j (Summary)
4441 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4442 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4443 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4448 @node Choosing Variables
4449 @subsection Choosing Variables
4451 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4454 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4455 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4456 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4457 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4458 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4459 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4461 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4462 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4463 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4464 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4466 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4467 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4468 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4469 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4470 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4471 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4472 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4473 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4474 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4475 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4476 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4477 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4478 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4479 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4484 @node Paging the Article
4485 @section Scrolling the Article
4486 @cindex article scrolling
4491 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4492 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4493 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4494 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4495 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4498 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4499 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4500 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4503 @kindex RET (Summary)
4504 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4505 Scroll the current article one line forward
4506 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4509 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4510 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4511 Scroll the current article one line backward
4512 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4516 @kindex A g (Summary)
4518 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4519 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4520 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4521 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4522 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4523 the way it came from the server.
4525 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4526 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4527 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4530 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4535 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4540 @kindex A < (Summary)
4541 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4542 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4543 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4548 @kindex A > (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4550 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4554 @kindex A s (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4557 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4558 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4562 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4563 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4568 @node Reply Followup and Post
4569 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4572 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4573 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4574 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4575 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4579 @node Summary Mail Commands
4580 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4582 @cindex composing mail
4584 Commands for composing a mail message:
4590 @kindex S r (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4593 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4594 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4595 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4596 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4601 @kindex S R (Summary)
4602 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4603 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4604 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4605 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4606 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4609 @kindex S w (Summary)
4610 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4611 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4612 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4613 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4614 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4617 @kindex S W (Summary)
4618 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4619 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4620 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4621 the process/prefix convention.
4624 @kindex S v (Summary)
4625 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4626 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4627 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4628 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4629 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4630 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4633 @kindex S W (Summary)
4634 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4635 Mail a very wide reply to the current article and include the original
4636 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4637 the process/prefix convention.
4641 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4642 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4644 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4645 Forward the current article to some other person
4646 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4647 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4648 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4649 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4650 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4651 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4652 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4653 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4654 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4659 @kindex S m (Summary)
4660 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4661 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4662 Send a mail to some other person
4663 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4666 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4667 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4668 @cindex bouncing mail
4669 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4670 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4671 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4672 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4673 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4674 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4675 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4676 very well fail, though.
4679 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4680 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4681 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4682 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4683 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4684 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4685 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4686 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4687 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4688 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4690 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4691 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4692 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4693 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4694 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4696 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4697 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4700 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4701 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4702 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4703 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4704 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4707 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4708 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4709 @cindex crossposting
4710 @cindex excessive crossposting
4711 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4712 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4714 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4715 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4716 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4717 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4718 command understands the process/prefix convention
4719 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4723 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4726 @node Summary Post Commands
4727 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4729 @cindex composing news
4731 Commands for posting a news article:
4737 @kindex S p (Summary)
4738 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4739 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4740 Post an article to the current group
4741 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4746 @kindex S f (Summary)
4747 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4748 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4749 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4753 @kindex S F (Summary)
4755 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4756 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4757 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4758 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4759 process/prefix convention.
4762 @kindex S n (Summary)
4763 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4764 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4765 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4768 @kindex S N (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4770 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4771 message through mail and include the original message
4772 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4773 the process/prefix convention.
4776 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4777 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4778 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4779 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4780 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4781 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4782 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4783 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4784 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4785 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4786 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4787 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4788 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4791 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4792 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4794 @cindex making digests
4795 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4796 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4797 process/prefix convention.
4800 @kindex S u (Summary)
4801 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4802 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4803 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4804 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4807 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4810 @node Summary Message Commands
4811 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4815 @kindex S y (Summary)
4816 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4817 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4818 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4819 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4820 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4825 @node Canceling and Superseding
4826 @subsection Canceling Articles
4827 @cindex canceling articles
4828 @cindex superseding articles
4830 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4831 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4833 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4835 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4837 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4838 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4839 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4840 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4841 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4842 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4844 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4845 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4848 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4849 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4850 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4852 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4853 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4854 your original article.
4856 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4858 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4859 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4860 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4863 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4864 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4865 have posted almost the same article twice.
4867 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4868 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4869 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4870 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4871 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4872 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4873 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4874 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4875 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4876 canceled/superseded.
4878 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4881 @node Marking Articles
4882 @section Marking Articles
4883 @cindex article marking
4884 @cindex article ticking
4887 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4889 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4890 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4891 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4893 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4896 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4897 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4898 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4902 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4906 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4907 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4908 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4912 @node Unread Articles
4913 @subsection Unread Articles
4915 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4920 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4921 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4923 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4924 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4925 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4926 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
4927 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
4928 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
4929 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
4932 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4933 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4935 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4936 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4937 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4940 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4941 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4943 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4948 @subsection Read Articles
4949 @cindex expirable mark
4951 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4956 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4957 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4958 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4961 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4962 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4965 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4966 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4967 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4970 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4971 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4974 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4975 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4978 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4979 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4982 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4983 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4986 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4987 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4990 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4991 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4994 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4995 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4999 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5000 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5001 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5005 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5006 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5008 One more special mark, though:
5012 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5013 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5015 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5016 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5017 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5018 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5024 @subsection Other Marks
5025 @cindex process mark
5028 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5034 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5035 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5036 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5037 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5038 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5041 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5042 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5043 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5044 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5046 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5047 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{O} in
5048 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5051 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5052 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5053 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5056 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5057 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5058 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5059 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5062 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5063 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5064 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5065 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5066 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5069 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5070 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5071 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5072 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5073 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5074 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5078 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5079 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5080 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5082 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5083 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5084 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5088 @subsection Setting Marks
5089 @cindex setting marks
5091 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5096 @kindex M c (Summary)
5097 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5098 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5099 @cindex mark as unread
5100 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5101 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5107 @kindex M t (Summary)
5108 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5109 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5110 @xref{Article Caching}.
5115 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5116 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5117 Mark the current article as dormant
5118 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5122 @kindex M d (Summary)
5124 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5125 Mark the current article as read
5126 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5130 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5131 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5132 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5137 @kindex M k (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5139 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5140 and then select the next unread article
5141 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5145 @kindex M K (Summary)
5146 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5147 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5148 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5149 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5152 @kindex M C (Summary)
5153 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5154 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5155 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5158 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5160 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5161 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5164 @kindex M H (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5166 Catchup the current group to point
5167 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5170 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5171 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5172 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5173 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5176 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5177 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5178 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5179 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5183 @kindex M e (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5186 Mark the current article as expirable
5187 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5190 @kindex M b (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5192 Set a bookmark in the current article
5193 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5196 @kindex M B (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5198 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5199 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5202 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5204 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5205 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5208 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5210 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5211 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5214 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5216 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5217 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5218 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5221 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5222 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5223 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5224 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5225 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5226 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5227 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5228 The default is @code{t}.
5231 @node Generic Marking Commands
5232 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5234 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5235 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5236 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5237 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5238 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5241 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5242 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5245 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5246 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5247 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5248 to list in this manual.
5250 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5251 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5252 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5253 article, you could say something like:
5256 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5257 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5258 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5264 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5265 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5269 @node Setting Process Marks
5270 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5271 @cindex setting process marks
5278 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5279 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5280 Mark the current article with the process mark
5281 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5282 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5286 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5287 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5288 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5289 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5292 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5294 Remove the process mark from all articles
5295 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5298 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5299 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5300 Invert the list of process marked articles
5301 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5304 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5306 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5307 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5310 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5312 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5313 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5316 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5318 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5321 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5323 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5324 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5327 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5328 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5329 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5330 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5333 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5335 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5336 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5339 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5341 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5344 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5346 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5347 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5350 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5351 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5352 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5355 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5356 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5357 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5358 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5361 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5362 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5363 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5364 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5367 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5368 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5369 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5370 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5373 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5374 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5375 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5376 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5380 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5381 set process marks based on article body contents.
5388 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5389 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5390 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5393 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5394 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5395 additional articles.
5401 @kindex / / (Summary)
5402 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5403 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5404 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5407 @kindex / a (Summary)
5408 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5409 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5410 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5413 @kindex / x (Summary)
5414 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5415 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5416 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5417 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5421 @kindex / u (Summary)
5423 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5424 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5425 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5426 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5427 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5430 @kindex / m (Summary)
5431 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5432 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5433 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5436 @kindex / t (Summary)
5437 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5438 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5439 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5440 articles younger than that number of days.
5443 @kindex / n (Summary)
5444 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5445 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5446 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5447 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5450 @kindex / w (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5452 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5453 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5457 @kindex / v (Summary)
5458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5459 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5460 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5464 @kindex M S (Summary)
5465 @kindex / E (Summary)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5467 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5468 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5471 @kindex / D (Summary)
5472 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5473 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5474 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5477 @kindex / * (Summary)
5478 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5479 Include all cached articles in the limit
5480 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5483 @kindex / d (Summary)
5484 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5485 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5486 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5489 @kindex / M (Summary)
5490 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5491 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5494 @kindex / T (Summary)
5495 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5496 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5499 @kindex / c (Summary)
5500 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5501 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5502 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5505 @kindex / C (Summary)
5506 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5507 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5508 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5509 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5517 @cindex article threading
5519 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5520 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5521 hierarchical fashion.
5523 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5524 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5525 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5526 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5527 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5528 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5529 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5531 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5535 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5538 A tree-like article structure.
5541 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5544 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5545 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5546 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5547 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5548 called loose threads.
5550 @item thread gathering
5551 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5553 @item sparse threads
5554 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5555 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5561 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5562 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5566 @node Customizing Threading
5567 @subsection Customizing Threading
5568 @cindex customizing threading
5571 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5572 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5573 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5574 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5579 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5582 @cindex loose threads
5585 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5586 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5587 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5588 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5589 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5590 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5592 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5593 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5594 There are four possible values:
5598 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5599 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5600 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5601 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5602 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5607 @cindex adopting articles
5612 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5613 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5614 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5615 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5618 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5619 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5620 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5621 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5622 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5623 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5624 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5627 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5628 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5629 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5633 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5634 display them after one another.
5637 Don't gather loose threads.
5640 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5641 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5642 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5643 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5644 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5645 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5646 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5647 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5648 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5649 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5650 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5652 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5653 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5654 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5657 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5658 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5659 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5660 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5661 simplification is used.
5663 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5664 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5665 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5666 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5668 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5670 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5676 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5677 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5678 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5679 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5684 (mapconcat 'identity
5685 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5687 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5690 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5693 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5694 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5695 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5696 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5697 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5698 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5700 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5703 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5704 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5705 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5707 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5708 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5711 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5712 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5713 Remove excessive whitespace.
5716 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5719 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5720 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5721 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5722 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5723 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5724 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5725 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5726 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5728 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5729 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5730 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5731 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5732 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5733 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5734 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5735 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5736 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5740 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5741 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5742 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5743 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5745 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5746 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5747 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5750 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5754 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5755 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5761 @node Filling In Threads
5762 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5765 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5766 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5767 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5768 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5769 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5770 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5771 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5772 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5773 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5774 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5775 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5776 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5778 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5779 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5780 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5782 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5783 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5784 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5785 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5786 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5787 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5788 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5789 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5790 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5791 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5792 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5793 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5794 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5795 @code{nil} by default.
5800 @node More Threading
5801 @subsubsection More Threading
5804 @item gnus-show-threads
5805 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5806 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5807 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5808 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5809 slower and more awkward.
5811 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5812 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5813 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5816 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5817 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5818 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5819 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5820 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5821 threads are expunged.
5823 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5824 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5825 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5828 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5829 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5830 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5831 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5832 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5835 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5836 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5837 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5840 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5841 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5842 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5843 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5844 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5845 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5846 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5847 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5848 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5849 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5850 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5855 @node Low-Level Threading
5856 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5860 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5861 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5862 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5864 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5865 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5866 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5867 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5868 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5869 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5870 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5871 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5872 meaningful. Here's one example:
5875 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5877 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5878 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5880 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5882 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5889 @node Thread Commands
5890 @subsection Thread Commands
5891 @cindex thread commands
5897 @kindex T k (Summary)
5898 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5900 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5901 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5902 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5907 @kindex T l (Summary)
5908 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5909 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5910 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5911 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5914 @kindex T i (Summary)
5915 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5916 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5917 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5920 @kindex T # (Summary)
5921 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5922 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5923 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5926 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5928 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5929 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5932 @kindex T T (Summary)
5933 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5934 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5937 @kindex T s (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5939 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5940 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5943 @kindex T h (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5945 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5948 @kindex T S (Summary)
5949 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5950 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5953 @kindex T H (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5955 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5958 @kindex T t (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5960 Re-thread the current article's thread
5961 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5962 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5965 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5967 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5968 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5972 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5973 understand the numeric prefix.
5978 @kindex T n (Summary)
5980 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5982 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5983 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5984 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5987 @kindex T p (Summary)
5989 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5991 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5993 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5996 @kindex T d (Summary)
5997 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5998 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6001 @kindex T u (Summary)
6002 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6003 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6006 @kindex T o (Summary)
6007 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6008 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6011 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6012 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6013 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6014 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6015 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6016 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6017 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6018 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6019 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6020 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6021 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6022 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6029 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6030 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6031 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6032 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6033 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6034 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6035 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6036 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6037 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6038 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6039 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6041 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6042 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6043 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6044 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6045 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6047 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6048 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6049 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6051 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6052 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6053 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6054 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6055 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6056 ascending article order.
6058 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6059 by number, you could do something like:
6062 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6063 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6064 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6065 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6068 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6069 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6070 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6071 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6072 which the articles arrived.
6074 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6078 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6080 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6081 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6084 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6085 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6086 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6087 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6090 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6091 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6092 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6093 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6094 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6095 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6096 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6097 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6098 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6099 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6100 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6101 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6102 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6104 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6108 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6109 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6110 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6115 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6116 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6117 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6118 @cindex article pre-fetch
6121 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6122 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6123 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6124 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6125 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6127 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6128 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6130 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6131 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6132 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6133 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6134 connection is blocked.
6136 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6137 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6138 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6139 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6141 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6142 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6143 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6144 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6147 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6150 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6151 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6152 happen automatically.
6154 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6155 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6156 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6157 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6158 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6159 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6160 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6162 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6163 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6164 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6165 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6166 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6167 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6168 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6169 data structure as the only parameter.
6171 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6174 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6175 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6176 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6177 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6180 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6183 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6184 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6185 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6187 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6188 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6189 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6190 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6194 Remove articles when they are read.
6197 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6200 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6202 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6203 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6204 @c from the next group.
6207 @node Article Caching
6208 @section Article Caching
6209 @cindex article caching
6212 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6213 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6214 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6215 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6216 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6218 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6220 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6221 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6222 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6223 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6224 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6225 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6226 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6227 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6229 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6230 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6231 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6232 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6233 as dormant, and don't worry.
6235 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6237 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6238 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6239 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6240 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6241 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6242 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6243 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6244 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6245 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6246 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6248 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6249 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6250 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6251 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6252 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6253 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6254 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6255 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6256 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6257 not then be downloaded by this command.
6259 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6260 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6261 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6262 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6263 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6264 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6266 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6267 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6268 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6269 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6270 variables, the group is not cached.
6272 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6273 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6274 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6275 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6276 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6277 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6278 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6279 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6280 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6284 @node Persistent Articles
6285 @section Persistent Articles
6286 @cindex persistent articles
6288 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6289 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6290 useful in my opinion.
6292 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6293 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6294 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6295 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6296 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6297 the expiry going on at the news server.
6299 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6300 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6301 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6307 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6308 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6311 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6312 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6313 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6314 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6318 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6320 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6321 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6322 interested in persistent articles:
6325 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6329 @node Article Backlog
6330 @section Article Backlog
6332 @cindex article backlog
6334 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6335 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6336 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6337 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6338 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6339 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6340 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6341 increase memory usage some.
6343 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6344 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6345 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6346 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6347 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6348 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6349 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6351 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6354 @node Saving Articles
6355 @section Saving Articles
6356 @cindex saving articles
6358 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6359 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6360 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6361 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6362 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6364 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6365 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6366 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6368 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6369 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6370 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6371 deleted before saving.
6377 @kindex O o (Summary)
6379 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6380 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6381 Save the current article using the default article saver
6382 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6385 @kindex O m (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6387 Save the current article in mail format
6388 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6391 @kindex O r (Summary)
6392 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6393 Save the current article in rmail format
6394 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6397 @kindex O f (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6399 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6400 Save the current article in plain file format
6401 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6404 @kindex O F (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6406 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6407 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6410 @kindex O b (Summary)
6411 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6412 Save the current article body in plain file format
6413 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6416 @kindex O h (Summary)
6417 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6418 Save the current article in mh folder format
6419 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6422 @kindex O v (Summary)
6423 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6424 Save the current article in a VM folder
6425 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6428 @kindex O p (Summary)
6429 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6430 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6431 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6434 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6435 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6436 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6437 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6438 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6439 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6440 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6441 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6442 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6443 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6444 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6445 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6449 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6450 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6451 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6452 functions below, or you can create your own.
6456 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6457 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6458 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6459 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6460 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6461 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6462 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6464 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6465 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6466 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6467 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6468 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6469 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6471 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6472 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6473 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6474 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6475 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6476 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6477 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6479 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6480 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6481 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6482 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6483 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6485 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6486 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6487 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6488 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6489 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6492 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6493 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6494 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6495 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6496 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6498 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6499 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6500 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6501 reader to use this setting.
6504 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6505 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6506 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6507 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6510 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6511 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6512 available functions that generate names:
6516 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6517 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6518 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6520 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6521 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6522 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6524 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6525 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6526 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6528 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6529 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6530 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6532 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6533 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6534 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6537 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6538 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6539 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6540 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6541 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6545 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6546 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6547 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6548 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6551 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6552 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6553 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6554 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6555 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6556 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6557 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6558 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6559 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6561 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6562 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6563 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6564 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6566 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6567 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6568 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6571 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6572 lots of mail groups called things like
6573 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6574 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6575 following will do just that:
6578 (defun my-save-name (group)
6579 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6580 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6582 (setq gnus-split-methods
6583 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6588 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6589 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6590 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6591 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6592 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6593 all the files in the top level directory
6594 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6595 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6596 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6597 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6599 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6600 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6601 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6602 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6603 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6606 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6610 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6611 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6614 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6615 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6616 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6617 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6620 @node Decoding Articles
6621 @section Decoding Articles
6622 @cindex decoding articles
6624 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6625 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6628 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6629 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6630 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6631 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6632 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6633 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6637 @cindex article series
6638 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6639 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6640 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6641 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6642 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6644 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6645 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6646 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6648 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6649 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6650 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6652 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6653 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6654 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6657 @node Uuencoded Articles
6658 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6660 @cindex uuencoded articles
6665 @kindex X u (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6667 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6668 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6671 @kindex X U (Summary)
6672 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6673 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6674 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6677 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6679 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6682 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6684 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6685 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6689 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6690 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6691 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6692 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6693 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6695 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6696 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6697 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6698 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6701 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6702 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6703 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6704 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6705 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6706 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6710 @node Shell Archives
6711 @subsection Shell Archives
6713 @cindex shell archives
6714 @cindex shared articles
6716 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6717 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6718 some commands to deal with these:
6723 @kindex X s (Summary)
6724 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6725 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6728 @kindex X S (Summary)
6729 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6730 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6733 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6735 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6738 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6739 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6740 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6741 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6745 @node PostScript Files
6746 @subsection PostScript Files
6752 @kindex X p (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6754 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6757 @kindex X P (Summary)
6758 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6759 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6760 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6763 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6765 View the current PostScript series
6766 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6769 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6770 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6771 View and save the current PostScript series
6772 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6777 @subsection Other Files
6781 @kindex X o (Summary)
6782 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6783 Save the current series
6784 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6787 @kindex X b (Summary)
6788 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6789 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6790 doesn't really work yet.
6794 @node Decoding Variables
6795 @subsection Decoding Variables
6797 Adjective, not verb.
6800 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6801 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6802 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6806 @node Rule Variables
6807 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6808 @cindex rule variables
6810 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6811 variables are of the form
6814 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6821 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6822 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6824 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6825 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6828 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6829 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6832 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6833 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6834 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6835 user and default view rules.
6837 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6838 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6839 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6844 @node Other Decode Variables
6845 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6848 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6850 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6851 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6852 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6853 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6854 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6858 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6859 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6862 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6863 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6864 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6867 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6868 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6869 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6870 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6871 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6874 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6875 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6876 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6878 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6879 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6880 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6881 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6882 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6885 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6886 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6887 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6889 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6890 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6891 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6892 looking for files to display.
6894 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6895 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6896 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6899 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6900 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6901 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6904 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6905 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6906 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6909 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6910 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6911 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6914 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6915 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6916 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6917 decoded articles as unread.
6919 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6920 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6921 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6922 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6924 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6925 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6926 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6928 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6929 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6931 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6932 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6933 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6934 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6936 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6937 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6938 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6939 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6940 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6941 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6942 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6943 simply dropped them.
6948 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6949 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6953 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6954 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6955 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6956 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6957 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6958 for you when you post the article.
6960 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6961 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6962 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6963 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6965 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6966 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6967 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6968 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6969 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6970 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6971 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6973 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6974 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6975 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6976 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6977 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6978 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6979 Default is @code{t}.
6985 @subsection Viewing Files
6986 @cindex viewing files
6987 @cindex pseudo-articles
6989 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6990 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6991 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6992 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6993 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6994 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6995 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6997 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6998 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6999 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7000 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7002 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7003 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7004 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7006 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7007 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7008 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7009 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7010 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7012 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7013 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7014 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7015 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7016 a list of parameters to that command.
7018 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7019 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7020 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7022 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7023 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7024 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7027 @node Article Treatment
7028 @section Article Treatment
7030 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7031 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7032 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7033 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7034 these articles easier.
7037 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7038 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7039 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7040 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7041 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7042 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7043 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7044 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7048 @node Article Highlighting
7049 @subsection Article Highlighting
7050 @cindex highlighting
7052 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7053 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7058 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7059 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7060 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7061 Do much highlighting of the current article
7062 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7063 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7066 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7067 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7068 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7069 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7070 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7071 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7072 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7073 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7074 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7075 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7076 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7077 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7080 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7081 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7082 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7084 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7087 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7089 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7090 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7091 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7093 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7094 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7095 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7097 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7098 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7099 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7100 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7101 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7102 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7104 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7105 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7106 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7108 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7109 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7110 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7112 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7113 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7114 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7115 that it's a citation.
7117 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7118 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7119 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7121 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7122 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7123 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7125 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7126 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7127 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7128 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7134 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7135 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7136 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7137 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7138 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7139 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7140 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7141 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7146 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7149 @node Article Fontisizing
7150 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7152 @cindex article emphasis
7154 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7155 @kindex W e (Summary)
7156 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7157 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7158 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7159 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7161 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7162 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7163 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7164 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7165 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7166 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7167 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7168 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7172 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7173 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7174 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7183 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7184 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7185 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7186 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7187 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7188 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7189 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7190 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7191 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7192 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7193 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7194 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7195 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7197 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7198 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7199 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7203 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7206 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7208 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7209 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7210 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7211 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7213 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7216 @node Article Hiding
7217 @subsection Article Hiding
7218 @cindex article hiding
7220 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7221 too much cruft in most articles.
7226 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-article-hide
7228 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7229 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7230 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7233 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7235 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7239 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7241 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7242 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7245 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7247 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7251 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7253 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7254 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7255 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7256 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7257 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7258 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7262 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7263 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7264 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7265 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7270 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7271 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7272 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7273 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7274 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7275 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7276 articles that have signatures in them do:
7278 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7280 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7282 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7283 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7285 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7288 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7293 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7294 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7295 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7296 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7299 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7300 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7303 @cindex stripping advertisements
7304 @cindex advertisements
7305 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7306 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7307 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7308 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7309 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7310 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7311 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7312 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7313 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7314 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7318 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7319 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7320 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7321 customizing the hiding:
7325 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7326 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7327 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7328 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7329 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7330 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7331 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7336 Starting point of the hidden text.
7338 Ending point of the hidden text.
7340 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7342 Number of lines of hidden text.
7345 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7346 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7347 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7348 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7349 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7354 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7355 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7357 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7358 following two variables:
7361 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7362 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7363 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7364 50), hide the cited text.
7366 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7367 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7368 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7373 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7375 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7376 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7377 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7378 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7382 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7383 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7384 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7386 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7387 citation customization.
7389 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7393 @node Article Washing
7394 @subsection Article Washing
7396 @cindex article washing
7398 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7399 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7401 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7402 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7405 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7406 articles by default.
7411 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7412 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7416 @kindex W l (Summary)
7417 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7418 Remove page breaks from the current article
7419 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7423 @kindex W r (Summary)
7424 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7425 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7426 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7427 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7428 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7429 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7431 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7432 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7433 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7434 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7438 @kindex W t (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7441 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7442 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7445 @kindex W v (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7447 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7448 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7451 @kindex W o (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7453 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7456 @kindex W d (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7458 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7460 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7462 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7463 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7464 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7465 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7468 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7469 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7470 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7471 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7474 @kindex W w (Summary)
7475 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7476 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7478 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7482 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7484 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7487 @kindex W C (Summary)
7488 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7489 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7490 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7493 @kindex W c (Summary)
7494 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7495 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7496 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7497 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7498 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7501 @kindex W q (Summary)
7502 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7503 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7504 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7505 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7506 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7507 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7508 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7509 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7512 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7513 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7514 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7515 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7516 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7517 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7518 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7522 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7523 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7524 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7525 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7526 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7529 @kindex W h (Summary)
7530 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7531 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7532 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7533 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7537 @kindex W f (Summary)
7539 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7540 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7541 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7542 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7549 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7550 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7551 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7552 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7553 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7554 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7555 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7556 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7557 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7558 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7559 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7560 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7561 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7562 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7563 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7564 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7565 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7566 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7567 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7568 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7572 @kindex W b (Summary)
7573 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7574 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7575 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7578 @kindex W B (Summary)
7579 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7580 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7581 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7584 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7585 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7586 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7587 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7590 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7591 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7592 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7593 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7596 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7597 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7598 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7599 lines with a single empty line.
7600 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7603 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7604 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7605 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7606 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7609 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7610 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7611 Do all the three commands above
7612 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7615 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7616 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7617 Remove all blank lines
7618 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7621 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7622 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7623 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7624 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7627 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7628 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7629 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7630 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7634 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7637 @node Article Buttons
7638 @subsection Article Buttons
7641 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7642 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7643 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7644 button on these references.
7646 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7647 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7648 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7653 @item gnus-button-alist
7654 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7655 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7658 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7664 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7665 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7666 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7669 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7670 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7671 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7674 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7675 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7676 avoid false matches.
7679 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7682 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7683 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7687 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7690 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7693 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7694 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7695 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7696 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7697 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7700 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7703 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7705 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7706 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7707 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7708 default values of the variables above.
7710 @item gnus-article-button-face
7711 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7712 Face used on buttons.
7714 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7715 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7716 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7720 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7724 @subsection Article Date
7726 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7727 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7728 when the article was sent.
7733 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7734 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7735 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7736 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7739 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7740 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7742 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7743 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7746 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7747 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7748 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7751 @kindex W T p (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-article-date-english
7753 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
7754 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
7757 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7758 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7759 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7760 @findex format-time-string
7761 Display the date using a user-defined format
7762 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7763 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7764 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7765 for a list of possible format specs.
7768 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7769 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7770 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7771 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7772 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7773 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7776 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7779 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7780 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7783 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7784 into wonderful absurdities.
7786 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7789 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7792 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7793 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7797 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7798 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7799 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7800 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7801 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7802 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7803 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7807 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7808 preferred format automatically.
7811 @node Article Signature
7812 @subsection Article Signature
7814 @cindex article signature
7816 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7817 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7818 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7819 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7820 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7821 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7822 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7823 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7824 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7827 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7828 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7829 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7830 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7831 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7832 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7833 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7834 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7837 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7840 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7841 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7842 signature when displaying articles.
7846 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7849 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7852 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7853 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7855 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7856 in question is not a signature.
7859 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7860 listed above. Here's an example:
7863 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7864 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7867 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7868 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7869 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7870 signature after all.
7873 @node Article Miscellania
7874 @subsection Article Miscellania
7878 @kindex A t (Summary)
7879 @findex gnus-article-babel
7880 Translate the article from one language to another
7881 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7887 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7888 @cindex MIME decoding
7890 @cindex viewing attachments
7892 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7893 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7899 @kindex K v (Summary)
7900 View the @sc{mime} part.
7903 @kindex K o (Summary)
7904 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7907 @kindex K c (Summary)
7908 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7911 @kindex K e (Summary)
7912 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7915 @kindex K i (Summary)
7916 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7919 @kindex K | (Summary)
7920 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7923 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7928 @kindex K b (Summary)
7929 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7930 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7934 @kindex K m (Summary)
7935 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7936 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7937 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7938 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7939 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7942 @kindex X m (Summary)
7943 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7944 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7945 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7946 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7949 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7950 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7951 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7952 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7955 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7956 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7957 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7960 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7961 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7962 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7964 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7965 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7966 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7967 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7968 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7969 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7972 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7973 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7974 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7981 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7982 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7983 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7984 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7987 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7990 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7994 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7995 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7996 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7997 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7998 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
8000 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8001 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8002 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8003 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8004 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8005 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8006 save all jpegs into some directory).
8008 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8011 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8012 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8014 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8015 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8016 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8017 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8018 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8021 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8022 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8023 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8032 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8033 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8034 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8035 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8036 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8037 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8038 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8040 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8041 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8042 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match full group names) and
8043 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8045 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8046 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
8047 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8048 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8049 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
8050 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8051 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
8052 something some agents insist on having in there.
8054 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8055 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8056 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8057 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8058 quoted-printable header encoding.
8060 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8061 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8062 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8066 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8069 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8070 means encode all charsets),
8072 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8073 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8074 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8081 @cindex coding system aliases
8082 @cindex preferred charset
8084 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8086 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8087 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8090 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8091 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8094 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8095 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8097 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8100 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8103 This will almost do the right thing.
8105 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8109 (codepage-setup 1251)
8110 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8114 @node Article Commands
8115 @section Article Commands
8122 @kindex A P (Summary)
8123 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8124 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8125 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8126 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8127 run just before printing the buffer.
8132 @node Summary Sorting
8133 @section Summary Sorting
8134 @cindex summary sorting
8136 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8137 can't really see why you'd want that.
8142 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8143 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8144 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8147 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8148 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8149 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8152 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8153 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8154 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8157 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8158 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8159 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8162 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8163 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8164 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8167 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8168 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8169 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8172 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8173 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8174 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8177 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8178 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8179 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8180 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8181 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8185 @node Finding the Parent
8186 @section Finding the Parent
8187 @cindex parent articles
8188 @cindex referring articles
8193 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8194 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8195 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8196 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8197 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8198 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8199 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8200 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8201 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8203 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8204 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8205 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8206 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8207 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8211 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8212 @kindex A R (Summary)
8213 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8214 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8217 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8218 @kindex A T (Summary)
8219 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8220 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8221 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8222 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8223 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8224 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8225 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8227 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8228 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8229 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8230 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8231 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8232 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8235 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8236 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8238 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8239 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8240 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8241 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8242 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8243 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8244 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8247 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8248 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8249 by giving this command a prefix.
8251 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8252 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8253 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8254 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8255 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8256 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8259 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8260 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8261 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8264 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8265 then ask Deja if that fails:
8268 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8270 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8273 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8274 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8275 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8276 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8277 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8278 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8281 @node Alternative Approaches
8282 @section Alternative Approaches
8284 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8285 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8288 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8289 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8294 @subsection Pick and Read
8295 @cindex pick and read
8297 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8298 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8299 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8300 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8302 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8303 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8304 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8305 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8306 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8307 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8309 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8314 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8315 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8316 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8317 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8318 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8319 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8320 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8321 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8324 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8325 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8326 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8327 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8331 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8332 Unpick the thread or article
8333 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8334 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8335 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8336 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8337 the thread or article at that line.
8341 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8342 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8343 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8344 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8345 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8346 will still be visible when you are reading.
8350 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8351 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8352 which is mapped to the same function
8353 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8355 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8358 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8361 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8362 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8364 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8365 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8366 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8368 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8369 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8370 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8371 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8372 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8373 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8374 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8378 @subsection Binary Groups
8379 @cindex binary groups
8381 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8382 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8383 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8384 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8385 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8386 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8387 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8390 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8391 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8392 command, when you have turned on this mode
8393 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8395 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8396 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8400 @section Tree Display
8403 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8404 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8405 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8406 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8409 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8412 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8413 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8414 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8416 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8417 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8418 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8419 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8420 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8422 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8423 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8424 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8425 default is @code{modeline}.
8427 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8428 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8429 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8430 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8431 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8432 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8433 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8439 The name of the poster.
8441 The @code{From} header.
8443 The number of the article.
8445 The opening bracket.
8447 The closing bracket.
8452 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8454 Variables related to the display are:
8457 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8458 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8459 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8460 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8461 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8462 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8464 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8465 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8466 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8467 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8471 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8472 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8473 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8474 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8475 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8476 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8477 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8478 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8479 other windows displayed next to it.
8481 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8482 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8483 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8484 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8485 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8486 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8487 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8491 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8494 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8504 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8508 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8509 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8511 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8513 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8518 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8519 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8520 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8523 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8524 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8525 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8526 (gnus-add-configuration
8530 (summary 0.75 point)
8535 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8538 @node Mail Group Commands
8539 @section Mail Group Commands
8540 @cindex mail group commands
8542 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8543 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8545 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8546 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8551 @kindex B e (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8553 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8554 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8557 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8559 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8560 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8561 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8562 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8565 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8566 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8567 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8568 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8569 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8570 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8573 @kindex B m (Summary)
8575 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8576 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8577 Move the article from one mail group to another
8578 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8579 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8582 @kindex B c (Summary)
8584 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8585 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8586 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8587 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8588 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8591 @kindex B B (Summary)
8592 @cindex crosspost mail
8593 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8594 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8595 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8596 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8597 be properly updated.
8600 @kindex B i (Summary)
8601 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8602 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8603 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8604 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8607 @kindex B r (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8609 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8610 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8611 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8612 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8613 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8614 (which is the default).
8618 @kindex B w (Summary)
8620 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8621 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8622 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8623 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8624 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8625 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8628 @kindex B q (Summary)
8629 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8630 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8631 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8632 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8635 @kindex B t (Summary)
8636 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8637 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8638 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8641 @kindex B p (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8643 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8644 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8645 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8646 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8647 article from your news server (or rather, from
8648 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8649 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8650 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8651 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8652 just not have arrived yet.
8656 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8657 @cindex moving articles
8658 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8659 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8660 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8661 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8662 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
8663 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
8664 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
8667 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8668 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8669 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8670 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8674 @node Various Summary Stuff
8675 @section Various Summary Stuff
8678 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8679 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8680 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8681 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8685 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8686 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8687 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8689 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8690 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8691 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8692 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8693 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8694 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8697 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8698 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8699 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8700 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8701 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8703 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8704 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8705 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8708 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8709 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8710 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8711 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8712 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8713 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8714 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8715 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8716 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8717 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8719 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8720 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8721 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8722 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8723 list of articles to be selected.
8725 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8726 the list in one particular group:
8729 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8730 (if (string= group "some.group")
8731 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8738 @node Summary Group Information
8739 @subsection Summary Group Information
8744 @kindex H f (Summary)
8745 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8746 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8747 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8748 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8749 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8750 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8751 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8752 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8753 be used for fetching the file.
8756 @kindex H d (Summary)
8757 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8758 Give a brief description of the current group
8759 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8760 rereading the description from the server.
8763 @kindex H h (Summary)
8764 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8765 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8766 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8769 @kindex H i (Summary)
8770 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8771 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8775 @node Searching for Articles
8776 @subsection Searching for Articles
8781 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8782 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8783 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8784 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8787 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8788 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8789 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8790 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8794 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8795 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8796 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8797 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8798 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8799 search backward instead.
8801 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8802 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8805 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8806 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8807 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8808 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8811 @node Summary Generation Commands
8812 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8817 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8818 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8819 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8822 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8823 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8824 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8825 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8830 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8831 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8837 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8838 @kindex A D (Summary)
8839 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8840 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8841 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8842 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8843 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8844 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8845 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8846 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8850 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8851 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8852 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8853 several documents into one biiig group
8854 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8855 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8856 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8857 command understands the process/prefix convention
8858 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8861 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8862 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8863 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8864 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8865 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8866 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8870 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8871 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8872 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8875 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8876 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8877 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8878 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8881 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8882 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8883 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8884 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8889 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8890 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8891 @cindex summary exit
8892 @cindex exiting groups
8894 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8895 group and return you to the group buffer.
8901 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8903 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8904 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8905 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8906 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8907 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8908 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8909 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8910 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8911 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8912 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8913 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8917 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8919 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8920 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8921 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8925 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8927 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8928 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8929 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8930 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8933 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8934 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8935 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8936 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8939 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8941 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8942 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8945 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8946 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8947 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8948 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8949 all articles, both read and unread.
8953 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8954 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8956 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8957 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8958 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8959 articles, both read and unread.
8962 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8963 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8964 Exit the group and go to the next group
8965 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8968 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8969 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8970 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8971 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8974 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8975 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8976 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8977 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8978 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8979 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8982 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8983 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8984 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8985 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8987 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8988 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8989 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8990 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8991 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8992 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8993 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8994 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8995 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8996 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8997 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8998 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9000 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9002 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9003 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9004 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9005 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9006 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9007 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9008 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9009 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9010 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9013 @node Crosspost Handling
9014 @section Crosspost Handling
9018 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9019 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9020 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9021 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9022 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9023 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9026 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9027 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9028 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9029 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9030 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9032 @cindex cross-posting
9035 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9036 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9037 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9038 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9039 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9040 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9041 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9042 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9043 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9044 the cross reference mechanism.
9046 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9047 @cindex overview.fmt
9048 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9049 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9050 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9051 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9052 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9053 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9056 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9057 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9058 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9063 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9066 @node Duplicate Suppression
9067 @section Duplicate Suppression
9069 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9070 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9071 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9072 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9077 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9078 is evil and not very common.
9081 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9082 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9085 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9086 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9089 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9092 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9093 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9095 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9096 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9097 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9098 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9099 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9100 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9101 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9104 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9105 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9106 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9107 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9108 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9112 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9113 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9114 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9116 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9117 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9118 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9119 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9120 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9121 session are suppressed.
9123 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9124 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9125 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9126 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9128 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9129 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9130 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9131 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9134 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9135 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9136 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9137 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9138 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9139 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9140 to you to figure out, I think.
9145 Gnus is able to verify PGP or S/MIME signed messages or decrypt PGP
9150 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9156 @item mm-verify-option
9157 @vindex mm-verify-option
9158 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9159 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9160 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9162 @item mm-decrypt-option
9163 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9164 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9165 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9166 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9170 @node Article Buffer
9171 @chapter Article Buffer
9172 @cindex article buffer
9174 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9175 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9176 tell Gnus otherwise.
9179 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9180 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9181 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9182 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9183 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9187 @node Hiding Headers
9188 @section Hiding Headers
9189 @cindex hiding headers
9190 @cindex deleting headers
9192 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9193 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9195 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9196 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9197 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9198 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9199 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9200 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9201 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9202 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9203 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9205 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9209 @item gnus-visible-headers
9210 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9211 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9212 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9213 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9215 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9216 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9219 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9222 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9225 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9226 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9227 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9228 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9229 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9230 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9232 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9233 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9236 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9239 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9242 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9243 variable will have no effect.
9247 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9248 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9249 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9250 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9251 the headers are to be displayed.
9253 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9254 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9257 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9260 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9261 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9263 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9264 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9265 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9266 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9267 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9268 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9269 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9272 These conditions are:
9275 Remove all empty headers.
9277 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9278 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9280 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9283 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9286 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9287 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9289 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9292 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9294 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9297 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9300 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9301 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9304 This is also the default value for this variable.
9308 @section Using @sc{mime}
9311 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9312 while people stand around yawning.
9314 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9315 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9317 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9318 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9319 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9321 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9322 @findex gnus-display-mime
9323 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9324 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9325 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9326 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9328 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9332 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9334 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9335 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9336 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9338 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9339 @item M-RET (Article)
9341 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9342 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9344 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9346 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9347 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9349 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9351 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9352 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9354 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9356 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9357 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9359 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9361 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9363 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9365 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9366 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9367 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9368 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9369 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9372 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9374 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9375 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9379 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9380 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9383 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9384 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9385 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9386 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9387 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9388 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9389 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9390 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9391 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9393 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9395 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9398 @node Customizing Articles
9399 @section Customizing Articles
9400 @cindex article customization
9402 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9403 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9404 called automatically when you select the articles.
9406 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9407 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9408 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9409 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9411 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9412 for sensible values.
9416 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9419 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9422 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9425 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9428 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9432 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9433 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9434 regexps in the list.
9437 A list where the first element is not a string:
9439 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9440 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9441 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9445 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9450 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9451 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9452 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9453 considered to contain just a single part.
9455 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9456 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9457 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9458 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9459 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9460 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9461 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9463 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9464 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9465 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9466 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9469 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9470 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9471 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9472 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9473 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9474 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9475 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9476 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9477 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9478 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9479 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
9480 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9481 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9482 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9483 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9484 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9485 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9486 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9487 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9488 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9489 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9490 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9491 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
9492 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9493 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9494 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9495 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9496 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9497 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9498 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9499 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9500 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9501 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9502 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9503 @item gnus-treat-translate
9506 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9507 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9508 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9509 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9510 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9514 @node Article Keymap
9515 @section Article Keymap
9517 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9518 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9519 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9520 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9523 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9528 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9529 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9530 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9533 @kindex DEL (Article)
9534 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9535 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9538 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9539 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9540 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9541 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9542 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9545 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9546 @findex gnus-article-mail
9547 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9548 given a prefix, include the mail.
9552 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9553 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9554 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9558 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9559 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9560 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9563 @kindex TAB (Article)
9564 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9565 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9566 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9569 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9570 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9571 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9577 @section Misc Article
9581 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9582 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9583 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9584 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9587 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9588 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9590 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9591 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9593 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9594 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9595 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9596 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9597 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9598 the contents of the article buffer.
9600 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9601 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9602 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9604 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9605 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9606 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9607 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9609 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9610 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9611 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9612 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9613 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9618 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9619 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9622 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9625 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9627 @item gnus-break-pages
9628 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9629 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9630 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9631 paging will not be done.
9633 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9634 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9635 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9640 @node Composing Messages
9641 @chapter Composing Messages
9642 @cindex composing messages
9645 @cindex sending mail
9651 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9652 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9653 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9654 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9655 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9656 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9659 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9660 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9661 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9662 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9663 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9664 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9665 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9666 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9669 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9670 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9676 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9679 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9680 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9681 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9682 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9684 @item gnus-add-to-list
9685 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9686 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9687 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9692 @node Posting Server
9693 @section Posting Server
9695 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9696 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9698 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9700 @vindex gnus-post-method
9702 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
9703 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
9704 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
9705 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
9706 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9707 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9708 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9711 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9714 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9715 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9716 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9717 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behaviour, for posting.
9719 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9720 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9722 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9723 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9726 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
9727 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
9731 @section Mail and Post
9733 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9737 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9738 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9739 @cindex mailing lists
9741 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9742 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9743 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9744 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9745 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9746 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9747 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9748 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9749 still a pain, though.
9753 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9754 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9755 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9758 @findex ispell-message
9760 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9763 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9764 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9767 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9770 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9771 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9773 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9776 Modify to suit your needs.
9779 @node Archived Messages
9780 @section Archived Messages
9781 @cindex archived messages
9782 @cindex sent messages
9784 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9785 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9786 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9787 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9790 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9791 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9792 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9796 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9797 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9798 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9799 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9802 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9803 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
9804 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9805 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9808 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9809 '(nnfolder "archive"
9810 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9811 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9812 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9815 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9817 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9818 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9819 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9821 This variable can be used to do the following:
9825 Messages will be saved in that group.
9827 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9828 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9829 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9830 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9831 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9832 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9833 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9834 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9836 @item a list of strings
9837 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9838 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9839 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9841 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9846 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9848 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9851 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9853 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9856 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9858 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9859 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9860 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9861 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9866 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9867 '((if (message-news-p)
9872 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9873 messages in one file per month:
9876 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9877 '((if (message-news-p)
9879 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9882 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9883 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9885 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9886 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9887 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9888 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9889 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9890 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9891 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9892 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9893 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9894 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9896 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9897 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9898 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9899 this will disable archiving.
9902 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9903 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9904 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9905 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9906 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9909 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9910 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9911 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9914 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9915 but the latter is the preferred method.
9917 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9918 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9919 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
9924 @node Posting Styles
9925 @section Posting Styles
9926 @cindex posting styles
9929 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9931 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9932 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9933 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9936 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9937 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9938 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9939 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9940 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9945 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9946 (organization "What me?"))
9948 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9949 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9950 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9953 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9954 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9955 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9956 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9957 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9958 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9959 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9960 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9962 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9963 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9964 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
9965 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
9966 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
9967 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
9968 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
9969 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
9970 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
9972 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9973 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
9974 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9975 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9976 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9977 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9978 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9979 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9980 result is thrown away.
9982 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9983 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9984 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9985 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9986 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9987 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9989 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9990 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9991 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9993 @findex message-mail-p
9994 @findex message-news-p
9996 So here's a new example:
9999 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10001 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10003 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10004 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10006 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10007 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10008 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10010 (signature my-news-signature))
10011 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10012 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10013 ((posting-from-work-p)
10014 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10015 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10016 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10017 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10019 (From (save-excursion
10020 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10021 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10023 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10026 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10027 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10028 if you fill many roles.
10035 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10036 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10037 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10038 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10039 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10041 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10042 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10043 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10044 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10045 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10049 @vindex nndraft-directory
10050 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10051 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10052 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10053 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10054 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10055 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10057 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10058 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10061 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10062 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10063 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10064 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10065 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10066 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10067 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10068 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10069 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10070 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10071 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10072 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10073 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10074 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10076 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10077 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10078 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10080 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10081 @kindex D e (Draft)
10082 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10083 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10084 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10086 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10089 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10090 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10091 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10092 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10093 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10094 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10095 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10098 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10099 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10100 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10103 @node Rejected Articles
10104 @section Rejected Articles
10105 @cindex rejected articles
10107 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10108 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10109 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10110 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10112 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10113 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10114 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10115 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10116 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10118 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10119 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10120 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10126 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10127 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10128 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10130 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10131 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10135 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10136 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10139 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10140 to 700, for your own safety.
10142 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10143 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10147 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10150 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10151 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10154 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10157 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10158 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{C-c
10159 C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{C-c C-m c
10160 p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c C-m c s} to
10161 encrypt using S/MIME.
10163 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10164 you've typed it correctly.
10166 @node Select Methods
10167 @chapter Select Methods
10168 @cindex foreign groups
10169 @cindex select methods
10171 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10172 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10173 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10174 personal mail group.
10176 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10177 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10178 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10179 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10180 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10181 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10183 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10184 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
10186 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10189 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10190 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10191 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10192 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10193 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10195 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10198 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10199 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10200 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10201 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10202 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10203 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10204 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10208 @node Server Buffer
10209 @section Server Buffer
10211 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10212 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10213 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10214 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10215 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10216 backend represents a virtual server.
10218 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10219 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10220 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10221 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10223 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10224 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10225 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10226 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10227 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10228 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10229 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10231 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10232 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10235 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10236 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10237 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10238 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10239 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10240 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10241 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10244 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10245 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10248 @node Server Buffer Format
10249 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10250 @cindex server buffer format
10252 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10253 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10254 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10255 variable, with some simple extensions:
10260 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10263 The name of this server.
10266 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10269 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10272 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10273 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10274 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10275 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10285 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10288 @node Server Commands
10289 @subsection Server Commands
10290 @cindex server commands
10296 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10297 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10301 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10302 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10305 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10306 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10307 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10311 @findex gnus-server-exit
10312 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10316 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10317 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10321 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10322 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10326 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10327 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10331 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10332 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10336 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10337 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10338 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10343 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10344 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10345 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10346 a mail backend that has gotten out of sync.
10351 @node Example Methods
10352 @subsection Example Methods
10354 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10357 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10360 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10366 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10367 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10370 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10371 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10373 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10374 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10378 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10381 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10382 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10384 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10385 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10386 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10390 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10393 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10396 Here's the method for a public spool:
10400 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10401 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10407 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10408 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10409 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10410 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10411 should probably look something like this:
10415 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10416 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10417 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10418 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10419 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10422 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10423 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10424 server that would look something like this:
10428 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10429 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10430 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10431 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10432 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10433 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10436 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10437 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10438 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10439 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10442 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10443 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10445 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10446 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10448 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10449 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10450 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10452 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10454 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10455 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10456 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10457 will contain the following:
10467 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10468 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10469 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10472 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10473 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10474 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10477 @node Server Variables
10478 @subsection Server Variables
10480 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10481 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10482 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10483 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10484 won't change the "derived" variables.
10486 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10487 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10488 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10489 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10490 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10491 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10492 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10493 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10494 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10498 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10499 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10500 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10504 @node Servers and Methods
10505 @subsection Servers and Methods
10507 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10508 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10509 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10510 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10514 @node Unavailable Servers
10515 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10517 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10518 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10519 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10520 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10521 actually the case or not.
10523 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10524 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10525 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10526 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10527 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10528 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10529 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10530 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10532 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10533 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10535 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10536 with the following commands:
10542 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10543 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10544 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10548 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10549 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10550 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10554 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10555 Mark the current server as unreachable
10556 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10559 @kindex M-o (Server)
10560 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10561 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10562 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10565 @kindex M-c (Server)
10566 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10567 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10568 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10572 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10573 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10574 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10580 @section Getting News
10581 @cindex reading news
10582 @cindex news backends
10584 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10585 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10586 or it can read from a local spool.
10589 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10590 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10595 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10598 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10599 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10600 server as the, uhm, address.
10602 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10603 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10604 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10605 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10607 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10608 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10609 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10611 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10616 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10617 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10618 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10620 @cindex authentification
10621 @cindex nntp authentification
10622 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10623 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10624 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10625 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10626 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10627 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10628 present in this hook.
10630 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10631 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10632 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10633 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10634 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10635 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10636 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10637 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10638 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10639 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10640 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10641 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10645 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10648 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10650 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10651 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
10652 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10653 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10654 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10655 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
10656 @samp{force} is explained below.
10660 Here's an example file:
10663 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10664 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10667 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10668 have to be first, for instance.
10670 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10671 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10672 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10673 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10674 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10675 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10676 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10678 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10679 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10685 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10686 previously mentioned.
10688 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10690 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10691 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10692 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10693 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10694 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10697 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10698 '(("innd" (ding))))
10701 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10703 The default value is
10706 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10707 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10710 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10711 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10713 @item nntp-maximum-request
10714 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10715 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10716 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10717 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10718 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10719 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10720 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10722 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10723 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10724 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10725 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10726 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10727 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10728 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10729 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10730 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10731 no timeouts are done.
10733 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10734 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10735 @c @cindex PPP connections
10736 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10737 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10738 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10739 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10740 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10741 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10742 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10743 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10744 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10745 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10747 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10748 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10749 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10750 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10751 @c described above.
10753 @item nntp-server-hook
10754 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10755 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10758 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10759 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10760 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10761 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10762 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10763 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10764 functions are supplied:
10767 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10768 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10771 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10772 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10773 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10776 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10780 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10781 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10782 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10783 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10785 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10786 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10787 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10789 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10790 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10791 User name on the remote system.
10795 @item nntp-open-telnet
10796 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10797 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10799 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10802 @item nntp-telnet-command
10803 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10804 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10806 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10807 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10808 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10810 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10811 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10812 User name for log in on the remote system.
10814 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10815 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10816 Password to use when logging in.
10818 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10819 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10820 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10823 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10824 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10825 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10826 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10828 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10829 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10830 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10831 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10832 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10836 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10837 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10838 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10839 you must have SSLay installed
10840 (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10841 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
10842 define a server as follows:
10845 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10847 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10849 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10850 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10851 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10852 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10857 @item nntp-end-of-line
10858 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10859 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10860 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10861 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10863 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10864 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10865 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10869 @vindex nntp-address
10870 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10872 @item nntp-port-number
10873 @vindex nntp-port-number
10874 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10877 @item nntp-buggy-select
10878 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10879 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10881 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10882 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10883 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10884 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10887 @item nntp-xover-commands
10888 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10891 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10892 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10896 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10897 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10898 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10899 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10900 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10901 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10902 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10903 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10904 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10905 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10906 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10908 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10909 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10910 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10912 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10913 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10914 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10915 server closes connection.
10917 @item nntp-record-commands
10918 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10919 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10920 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10921 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10922 that doesn't seem to work.
10928 @subsection News Spool
10932 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10933 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10934 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10937 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10938 anything else) as the address.
10940 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10941 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10942 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10943 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10947 @item nnspool-inews-program
10948 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10949 Program used to post an article.
10951 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10952 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10953 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10955 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10956 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10957 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10958 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10960 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10961 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10962 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10963 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10965 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10966 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10967 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10969 @item nnspool-active-file
10970 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10971 The path to the active file.
10973 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10974 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10975 The path to the group descriptions file.
10977 @item nnspool-history-file
10978 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10979 The path to the news history file.
10981 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10982 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10983 The path to the active date file.
10985 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10986 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10987 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10990 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10991 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10993 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10994 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10995 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11001 @section Getting Mail
11002 @cindex reading mail
11005 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11009 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11010 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11011 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11012 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11013 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11014 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11015 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11016 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11017 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11018 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11019 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11020 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
11021 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11025 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11026 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11028 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11029 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11030 of a culture shock.
11032 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11033 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11035 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11036 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11037 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11038 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11040 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11042 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11043 deleted? How awful!
11045 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11046 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11047 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11048 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11051 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11052 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11053 they want to treat a message.
11055 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11056 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11057 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11058 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11059 archived somewhere else.
11061 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11062 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11063 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11064 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11065 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11067 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11068 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11069 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11071 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11072 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11075 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11076 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11077 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11078 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11079 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11081 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11082 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11083 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11084 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11085 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11086 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11090 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11091 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11093 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11094 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11095 and things will happen automatically.
11097 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11098 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11101 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11102 '((nnml "private")))
11105 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
11106 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11107 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11108 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11109 like any other group.
11111 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11114 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11115 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11116 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11120 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11121 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11122 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11125 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11126 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11127 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11130 @node Splitting Mail
11131 @subsection Splitting Mail
11132 @cindex splitting mail
11133 @cindex mail splitting
11135 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11136 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11137 to be split into groups.
11140 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11141 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11142 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11143 ("mail.other" "")))
11146 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11147 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11148 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11149 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11150 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11151 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11152 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11155 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11158 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11159 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11160 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11161 mail belongs in that group.
11163 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11164 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11165 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11166 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11167 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11168 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11170 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11171 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11172 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11173 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11174 thinks should carry this mail message.
11176 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11177 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11178 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11179 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11181 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11182 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11183 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11184 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11185 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11187 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11190 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11191 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11192 links. If that's the case for you, set
11193 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11194 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11196 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11197 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11198 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11199 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11200 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11201 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11204 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11205 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11206 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11207 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11208 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11209 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11210 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11211 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11212 month's rent money.
11216 @subsection Mail Sources
11218 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11219 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11223 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11224 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11225 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11229 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11230 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11232 @cindex mail server
11235 @cindex mail source
11237 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11238 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11243 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11246 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11247 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11248 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11251 The following mail source types are available:
11255 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11261 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11262 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11265 An example file mail source:
11268 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11271 Or using the default path:
11277 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11278 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11279 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11282 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11286 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11289 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11293 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11296 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11298 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11301 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11305 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11306 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11307 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
11308 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
11309 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
11315 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11319 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11323 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11324 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11325 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11326 predicate are considered.
11330 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11334 An example directory mail source:
11337 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11342 Get mail from a POP server.
11348 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11349 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11352 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11353 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11354 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11355 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
11356 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
11359 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11363 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11367 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
11368 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11371 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11374 The valid format specifier characters are:
11378 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11379 included in this string.
11382 The name of the server.
11385 The port number of the server.
11388 The user name to use.
11391 The password to use.
11394 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11395 corresponding keywords.
11398 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11399 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11402 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11403 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11406 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11407 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11410 @item :authentication
11411 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11412 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11417 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11418 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11420 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11421 default user name, and default fetcher:
11427 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11430 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11431 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11434 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11437 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11441 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11442 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11443 contains exactly one mail.
11449 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11450 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11453 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11454 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11456 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11457 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11458 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11461 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11462 from locking problems).
11466 Two example maildir mail sources:
11469 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11473 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11477 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
11478 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
11479 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
11480 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
11487 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11488 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11491 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11492 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11495 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11499 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11503 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11504 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11505 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11507 @item :authentication
11508 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11509 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11510 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11514 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
11515 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
11516 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
11522 The valid format specifier characters are:
11526 The name of the server.
11529 User name from `imap-default-user'.
11532 The port number of the server.
11535 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11536 corresponding keywords.
11539 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11540 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11543 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11544 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11545 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11546 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11547 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11548 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11551 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11552 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11553 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11554 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11557 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11558 after finishing the fetch.
11562 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11565 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11569 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11570 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11572 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11575 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11576 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11578 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11584 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11585 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11588 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11592 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11596 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11597 folder after finishing the fetch.
11601 An example webmail source:
11604 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11609 @item Common Keywords
11610 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11616 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11617 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11621 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11626 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11627 useful when you use local mail and news.
11632 @subsubsection Function Interface
11634 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11635 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11636 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11637 consider the following mail-source setting:
11640 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11641 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11644 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11645 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11646 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11647 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11648 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11650 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11653 @node Mail Source Customization
11654 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11656 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11657 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11661 @item mail-source-crash-box
11662 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11663 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11664 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11666 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11667 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11668 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11670 @item mail-source-directory
11671 @vindex mail-source-directory
11672 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11673 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11674 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11677 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11678 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11679 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11680 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11681 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11682 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11684 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11685 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11686 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11691 @node Fetching Mail
11692 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11694 @vindex mail-sources
11695 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11696 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11697 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11698 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11700 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11701 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11704 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11705 mail server, you'd say something like:
11710 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11711 :password "secret")))
11714 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11718 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11719 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11722 :password "secret")))
11726 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11727 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11728 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11729 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11730 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11731 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11735 @node Mail Backend Variables
11736 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11738 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11742 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11743 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11744 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11745 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11747 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11748 @item nnmail-split-hook
11749 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11750 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11751 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11752 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11753 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11754 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11755 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11756 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11757 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11760 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11761 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11762 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11763 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11764 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11765 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11766 starting to handle the new mail) and
11767 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11768 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11769 default file modes the new mail files get:
11772 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11773 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11775 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11776 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11779 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11780 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11781 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11782 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11783 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11784 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11785 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11787 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11788 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11789 @findex delete-file
11790 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11792 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11793 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11794 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11795 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11796 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11801 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11802 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11803 @cindex mail splitting
11804 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11806 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11807 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11808 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11809 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11810 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11811 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11813 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11816 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11817 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11818 ;; from real errors.
11819 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11821 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11822 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11823 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11824 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11825 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11826 ;; Other mailing lists...
11827 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11828 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11829 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11830 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11831 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11832 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11833 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11834 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11836 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11837 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11841 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11842 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11843 the five possible split syntaxes:
11848 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11849 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11853 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11854 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11855 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11856 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11857 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11858 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11859 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11860 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11863 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11864 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11865 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11866 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11869 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11870 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11873 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11874 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11877 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11878 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11879 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11880 function should return a @var{split}.
11882 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11883 body of the messages:
11886 (defun split-on-body ()
11888 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11889 (goto-char (point-min))
11890 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11895 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11896 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11897 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11901 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11905 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11906 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11907 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11908 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11909 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11911 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11912 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11913 are expanded as specified by the variable
11914 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11915 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11918 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11919 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11920 when all this splitting is performed.
11922 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11923 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11924 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11927 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11930 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11931 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11933 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11934 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11935 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11936 groupings 1 through 9.
11938 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
11939 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
11940 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
11941 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
11942 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
11943 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
11944 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
11945 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
11946 it once per thread.
11948 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
11949 non-nil value. And then you can include
11950 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
11952 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11953 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
11954 ;; other splits go here
11958 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
11959 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
11960 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
11961 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
11962 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
11963 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
11964 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
11965 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
11966 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
11967 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
11968 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
11969 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300
11971 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11972 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
11973 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
11974 messages goes into the new group.
11977 @node Group Mail Splitting
11978 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11979 @cindex mail splitting
11980 @cindex group mail splitting
11982 @findex gnus-group-split
11983 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11984 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11985 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11986 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11987 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11988 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11989 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11990 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11992 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11993 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11994 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11995 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11997 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11998 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11999 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12000 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12001 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12002 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12003 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12005 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12006 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12007 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12008 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12009 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12010 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12011 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12013 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12014 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12015 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12016 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12017 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12018 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12019 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12020 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12021 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12022 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12023 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12024 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12025 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12027 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12032 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12033 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12035 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12036 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12037 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12038 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12040 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12043 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12044 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12045 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12048 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12049 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12050 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12054 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12055 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12056 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12060 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12063 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12064 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12065 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12066 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12067 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12068 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12069 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12070 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12071 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12073 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12074 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12075 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12076 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12077 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12078 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12079 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12080 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12081 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12083 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12084 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12085 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12086 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12087 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12088 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12091 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12094 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12095 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12096 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12097 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12098 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12101 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12102 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12103 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12104 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12106 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12107 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12109 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12110 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12111 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12114 Doing so can be quite easy.
12116 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12117 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12118 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12119 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12120 your @code{nnml} groups.
12126 Go to the group buffer.
12129 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12130 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12133 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12136 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12137 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12140 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12141 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12144 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12145 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12146 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12147 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12148 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12150 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12151 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12152 using the new mail backend.
12155 @node Expiring Mail
12156 @subsection Expiring Mail
12157 @cindex article expiry
12159 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12160 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12161 different approach to mail reading.
12163 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12164 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12165 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12166 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12167 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12168 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12171 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12172 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12173 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12174 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12175 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12176 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12177 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12178 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12180 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12181 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12182 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12183 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12184 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12185 column in the summary buffer.
12187 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12188 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12189 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12190 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12193 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12195 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12196 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12197 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12200 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12201 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12202 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12203 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12204 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12206 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12207 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12210 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12211 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12214 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12215 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12217 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12218 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12219 don't really mix very well.
12221 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12222 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12223 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12224 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12227 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12228 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12229 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12230 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12233 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12235 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12237 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12239 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12241 ((string= group "important")
12247 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12248 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12250 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12251 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12252 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12255 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12256 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12258 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12259 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12260 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12261 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12262 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12263 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12264 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12265 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12266 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12267 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12268 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12269 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12272 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12274 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12278 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12279 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12280 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12281 easier for procmail users.
12283 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12284 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12285 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12286 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12287 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12288 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12289 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12290 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12291 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12292 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12293 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12294 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12295 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12298 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12300 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12301 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12302 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12303 auto-expire turned on.
12307 @subsection Washing Mail
12308 @cindex mail washing
12309 @cindex list server brain damage
12310 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12312 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12313 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12314 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12315 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12316 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12317 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12319 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12320 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12321 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12324 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12325 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12326 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12327 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12330 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12331 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12332 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12333 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12334 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12337 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12338 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12339 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12340 Emacs running on MS machines.
12344 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12345 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12346 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12347 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12350 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12351 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12352 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12353 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12355 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12356 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12357 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12358 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12359 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12360 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12361 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12364 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12365 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12368 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12369 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12372 This can also be done non-destructively with
12373 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12375 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12376 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12377 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12379 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12380 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12382 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12383 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12384 @code{References} headers.
12388 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12389 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12390 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12394 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12395 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12396 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12403 @subsection Duplicates
12405 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12406 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12407 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12408 @cindex duplicate mails
12409 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12410 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12411 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12412 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12413 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12414 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12415 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12416 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12417 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12418 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12419 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12420 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12421 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12423 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12424 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12425 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12426 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12428 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12431 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12432 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12436 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12437 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12438 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12439 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12440 (any mail "mail.misc")
12447 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12448 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12453 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12454 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12455 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12456 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12457 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12460 @node Not Reading Mail
12461 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12463 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12464 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12465 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12467 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12468 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12469 mail, which should help.
12471 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12472 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12473 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12474 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12475 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12476 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12477 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12478 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12479 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12480 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12481 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12483 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12484 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12488 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12489 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12491 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12492 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12493 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12495 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12496 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12497 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12498 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12501 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12502 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12503 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12504 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12505 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12506 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12510 @node Unix Mail Box
12511 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12513 @cindex unix mail box
12515 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12516 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12517 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12518 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12519 which group it belongs in.
12521 Virtual server settings:
12524 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12525 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12526 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12528 @item nnmbox-active-file
12529 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12530 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12532 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12533 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12534 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12540 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12544 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12545 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12546 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12547 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12548 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12550 Virtual server settings:
12553 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12554 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12555 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12557 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12558 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12559 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12561 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12562 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12563 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12568 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12570 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12572 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12573 format. It should be used with some caution.
12575 @vindex nnml-directory
12576 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12577 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12578 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12579 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12581 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12584 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12585 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12586 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12587 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12588 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12589 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12590 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12591 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12593 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12594 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12595 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12596 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12598 Virtual server settings:
12601 @item nnml-directory
12602 @vindex nnml-directory
12603 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12605 @item nnml-active-file
12606 @vindex nnml-active-file
12607 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12609 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12610 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12611 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12614 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12615 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12616 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12618 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12619 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12620 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12622 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12623 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12624 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12626 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12627 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12628 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12632 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12633 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12634 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12635 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12636 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12637 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12638 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12643 @subsubsection MH Spool
12645 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12647 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12648 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12649 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12650 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12652 Virtual server settings:
12655 @item nnmh-directory
12656 @vindex nnmh-directory
12657 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12659 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12660 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12661 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12664 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12665 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12666 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12667 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12668 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12669 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12670 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12675 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12677 @cindex mbox folders
12678 @cindex mail folders
12680 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12681 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12682 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12685 Virtual server settings:
12688 @item nnfolder-directory
12689 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12690 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12692 @item nnfolder-active-file
12693 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12694 The name of the active file.
12696 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12697 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12698 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12700 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12701 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12702 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12704 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12705 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12706 @cindex backup files
12707 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12708 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12709 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12710 your @file{.emacs} file:
12713 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12714 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12716 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12719 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12720 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12721 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12722 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12723 extract some information from it before removing it.
12725 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12726 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12727 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12732 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12733 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12734 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12735 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12736 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12737 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12740 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12741 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12743 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12744 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12745 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12746 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12747 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12749 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12750 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12751 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12752 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12753 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12754 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12755 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12756 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12759 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12760 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12761 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12762 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12767 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12768 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12769 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12770 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12771 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12772 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12773 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12774 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12775 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12776 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12777 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12778 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12779 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12784 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12785 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12786 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12787 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12788 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12789 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12790 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12791 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12792 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12793 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12794 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12795 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12796 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12797 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12799 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12800 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12805 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12806 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12807 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12808 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12809 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12810 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12811 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12812 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12813 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12814 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12815 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12816 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12817 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12818 provided by the active file and overviews.
12820 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12821 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12822 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12823 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12824 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12827 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12828 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12833 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12834 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12835 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12836 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12837 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12838 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12839 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12843 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12844 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12845 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12846 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12847 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12848 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12849 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12850 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12851 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12853 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12854 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12855 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12856 friendly mail backend all over.
12861 @node Browsing the Web
12862 @section Browsing the Web
12864 @cindex browsing the web
12868 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12869 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12870 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12871 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12872 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12873 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12874 even know what a news group is.
12876 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12877 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12878 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12879 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12880 you mad in the end.
12882 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12885 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12886 interfaces to these sources.
12889 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12890 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12891 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12892 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12893 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12896 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12898 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12899 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12900 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12901 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12902 though, you should be ok.
12904 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12905 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12906 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12907 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12908 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12912 @subsection Web Searches
12916 @cindex InReference
12917 @cindex Usenet searches
12918 @cindex searching the Usenet
12920 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12921 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12922 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12923 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12924 searches without having to use a browser.
12926 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12927 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12928 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12929 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12930 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12932 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12933 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12934 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12935 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12936 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12937 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12938 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12939 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12940 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12941 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12944 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12945 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12946 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12947 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12948 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12949 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12951 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12952 to use @code{nnweb}.
12954 Virtual server variables:
12959 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12960 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12964 @vindex nnweb-search
12965 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12967 @item nnweb-max-hits
12968 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12969 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12972 @item nnweb-type-definition
12973 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12974 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12975 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12980 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12984 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12987 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12990 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12994 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13001 @subsection Slashdot
13005 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13006 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13007 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13009 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13010 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13013 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13014 '((nnslashdot "")))
13017 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
13018 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13019 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13020 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13021 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13024 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13025 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13027 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13028 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13029 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13030 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13031 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13032 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13035 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13038 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13039 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13040 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13041 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13042 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13043 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13044 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13046 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13047 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13048 The login name to use when posting.
13050 @item nnslashdot-password
13051 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13052 The password to use when posting.
13054 @item nnslashdot-directory
13055 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13056 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
13057 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13059 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13060 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13061 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13062 news articles and comments. The default is
13063 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13065 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13066 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13067 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13069 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13071 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13072 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13073 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13075 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13077 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13078 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13079 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13081 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13082 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13083 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13084 updated. The default is 0.
13091 @subsection Ultimate
13093 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13095 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13096 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13097 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13098 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13100 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13101 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13102 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13103 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13104 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13105 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13106 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13108 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13111 @item nnultimate-directory
13112 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13113 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13114 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13119 @subsection Web Archive
13121 @cindex Web Archive
13123 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13124 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13125 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13126 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13129 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13130 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13131 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13132 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13133 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13134 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13135 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13137 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13140 @item nnwarchive-directory
13141 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13142 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13143 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13145 @item nnwarchive-login
13146 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13147 The account name on the web server.
13149 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13150 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13151 The password for your account on the web server.
13155 @node Customizing w3
13156 @subsection Customizing w3
13162 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
13163 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
13164 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
13166 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
13167 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
13168 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
13171 (eval-after-load "w3"
13173 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
13174 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
13175 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
13176 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
13178 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
13181 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
13182 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
13186 @node Other Sources
13187 @section Other Sources
13189 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
13190 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
13194 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
13195 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
13196 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
13197 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
13198 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
13199 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
13203 @node Directory Groups
13204 @subsection Directory Groups
13206 @cindex directory groups
13208 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
13209 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
13212 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
13213 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
13214 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
13215 backend to read directories. Big deal.
13217 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
13218 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
13219 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
13220 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
13221 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
13223 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
13225 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
13226 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
13227 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
13228 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
13231 @node Anything Groups
13232 @subsection Anything Groups
13235 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
13236 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
13237 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
13240 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
13241 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
13242 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
13243 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
13244 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
13245 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
13246 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
13247 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
13248 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
13249 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
13252 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
13253 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
13254 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
13255 in the article buffer, just as usual.
13257 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
13258 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
13259 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
13260 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
13262 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
13263 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
13264 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
13265 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
13266 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
13267 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
13268 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
13269 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
13274 @item nneething-map-file-directory
13275 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
13276 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
13277 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
13279 @item nneething-exclude-files
13280 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
13281 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
13282 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
13284 @item nneething-include-files
13285 @vindex nneething-include-files
13286 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
13287 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
13289 @item nneething-map-file
13290 @vindex nneething-map-file
13291 Name of the map files.
13295 @node Document Groups
13296 @subsection Document Groups
13298 @cindex documentation group
13301 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
13302 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
13309 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
13314 The standard Unix mbox file.
13316 @cindex MMDF mail box
13318 The MMDF mail box format.
13321 Several news articles appended into a file.
13324 @cindex rnews batch files
13325 The rnews batch transport format.
13326 @cindex forwarded messages
13329 Forwarded articles.
13332 Netscape mail boxes.
13335 MIME multipart messages.
13337 @item standard-digest
13338 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13341 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13344 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13345 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13346 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13349 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13350 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13351 group. And that's it.
13353 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13354 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13355 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13356 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13357 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13358 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13359 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13360 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13361 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13362 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13364 Virtual server variables:
13367 @item nndoc-article-type
13368 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13369 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13370 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13371 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13372 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13374 @item nndoc-post-type
13375 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13376 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13377 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13382 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13386 @node Document Server Internals
13387 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13389 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13390 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13391 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13392 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13394 First, here's an example document type definition:
13398 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13399 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13402 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13403 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13404 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13405 types can be defined with very few settings:
13408 @item first-article
13409 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13410 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13413 @item article-begin
13414 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13415 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13417 @item head-begin-function
13418 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13421 @item nndoc-head-begin
13422 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13425 @item nndoc-head-end
13426 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13427 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13429 @item body-begin-function
13430 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13434 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13437 @item body-end-function
13438 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13442 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13445 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13446 regexp will be totally ignored.
13450 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13451 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13452 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13453 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13454 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13457 @item prepare-body-function
13458 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13459 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13460 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13462 @item article-transform-function
13463 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13464 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13465 body of the article.
13467 @item generate-head-function
13468 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13469 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13470 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13471 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13475 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13480 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13481 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13482 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13483 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13484 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13485 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13486 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13487 (subtype digest guess))
13490 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13491 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13492 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13493 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13494 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13496 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13497 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13498 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13499 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13500 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13501 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13502 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13503 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13504 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13505 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13513 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13514 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13515 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13517 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13518 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13519 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13522 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13523 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13524 that interested in doing things properly.
13526 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13527 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13530 First some terminology:
13535 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13536 get news and/or mail from.
13539 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13540 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13543 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13547 @item message packets
13548 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13549 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13550 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13552 @item response packets
13553 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13554 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13555 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13565 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13566 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13567 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13568 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13571 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13574 You put the packet in your home directory.
13577 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13578 the native or secondary server.
13581 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13582 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13585 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13589 You transfer this packet to the server.
13592 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13595 You then repeat until you die.
13599 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13600 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13603 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13604 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13605 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13609 @node SOUP Commands
13610 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13612 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13616 @kindex G s b (Group)
13617 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13618 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13619 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13620 process/prefix convention.
13623 @kindex G s w (Group)
13624 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13625 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13628 @kindex G s s (Group)
13629 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13630 Send all replies from the replies packet
13631 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13634 @kindex G s p (Group)
13635 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13636 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13639 @kindex G s r (Group)
13640 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13641 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13644 @kindex O s (Summary)
13645 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13646 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13647 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13648 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13653 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13658 @item gnus-soup-directory
13659 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13660 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13661 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13663 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13664 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13665 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13666 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13668 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13669 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13670 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13671 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13673 @item gnus-soup-packer
13674 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13675 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13676 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13678 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13679 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13680 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13681 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13683 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13684 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13685 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13687 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13688 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13689 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13690 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13696 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13699 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13700 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13701 you can read them at leisure.
13703 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13707 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13708 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13709 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13710 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13712 @item nnsoup-directory
13713 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13714 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13715 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13717 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13718 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13719 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13720 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13722 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13723 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13724 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13725 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13726 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13728 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13729 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13730 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13731 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13733 @item nnsoup-active-file
13734 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13735 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13736 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13737 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13738 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13740 @item nnsoup-packer
13741 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13742 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13743 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13745 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13746 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13747 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13748 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13750 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13751 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13752 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13755 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13756 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13757 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13760 @item nnsoup-always-save
13761 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13762 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13768 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13770 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13771 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13772 more for that to happen.
13774 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13775 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13776 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13779 In specific, this is what it does:
13782 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13783 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13786 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13787 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13788 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13791 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13792 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13793 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13796 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13797 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13798 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13800 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13806 @item nngateway-address
13807 @vindex nngateway-address
13808 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13810 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13811 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13812 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13813 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13814 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13815 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13816 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13819 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13820 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13821 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13824 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13827 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13830 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13833 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13835 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13838 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13839 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13840 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13842 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13844 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13845 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13846 @code{nngateway-address}.
13851 (setq gnus-post-method
13852 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13853 (nngateway-header-transformation
13854 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13862 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13865 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13871 @subsection @sc{imap}
13875 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13876 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
13877 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
13878 specify the network address of the server.
13880 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
13881 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
13882 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
13883 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
13884 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
13886 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
13887 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
13888 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
13889 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13891 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
13892 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
13893 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
13894 usage explained in this section.
13896 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
13897 might look something like this:
13900 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13901 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
13902 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
13904 (nnimap-address "localhost")
13905 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
13906 ; a UW server running on localhost
13908 (nnimap-server-port 143)
13909 (nnimap-address "localhost")
13910 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
13911 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
13912 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
13913 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
13914 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
13915 (nnimap-stream network))
13916 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
13918 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
13919 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
13920 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
13923 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13928 @item nnimap-address
13929 @vindex nnimap-address
13931 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13932 server name if not specified.
13934 @item nnimap-server-port
13935 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13936 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13938 Note that this should be a integer, example server specification:
13941 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13942 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
13945 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13946 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13947 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13948 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13949 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13950 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13951 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13953 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13954 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13955 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13958 Example server specification:
13961 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13962 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
13963 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
13966 @item nnimap-stream
13967 @vindex nnimap-stream
13968 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13969 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13970 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13971 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13973 Example server specification:
13976 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
13977 (nnimap-stream ssl))
13980 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
13984 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13985 @samp{imtest} program.
13987 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13989 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13990 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13993 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13994 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13996 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
13998 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14001 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14002 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
14003 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
14004 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14007 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14008 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14009 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14010 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14011 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14012 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14013 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14016 @vindex imap-shell-program
14017 @vindex imap-shell-host
14018 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14019 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14021 @item nnimap-authenticator
14022 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14024 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14025 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14027 Example server specification:
14030 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14031 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14034 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14038 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14039 external program @code{imtest}.
14041 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14044 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14045 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14047 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14049 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14051 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14054 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14056 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14057 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14058 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14059 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14060 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14061 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14064 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14065 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14066 running in circles yet?
14068 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14069 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14072 The possible options are:
14077 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14080 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14081 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14082 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14083 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14085 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14090 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14091 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14093 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format
14094 is (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See
14095 `nntp-authinfo-file' for exact syntax.
14097 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14098 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14099 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14105 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14106 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14107 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14112 @node Splitting in IMAP
14113 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14114 @cindex splitting imap mail
14116 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14117 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14118 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14119 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14120 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14124 Here are the variables of interest:
14128 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14129 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14131 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14133 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14134 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14136 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14138 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14139 @cindex splitting, inbox
14141 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14143 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14144 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14148 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14149 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14152 No nnmail equivalent.
14154 @item nnimap-split-rule
14155 @cindex Splitting, rules
14156 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14158 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14161 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14162 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14163 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14164 Neither did I, we need examples.
14167 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14168 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14169 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14170 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14173 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14174 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14175 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
14177 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14178 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14182 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14185 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14186 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14187 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14188 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14190 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14191 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14192 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14193 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14194 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14195 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14197 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14198 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14199 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14201 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14202 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14203 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14205 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14207 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14208 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14209 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14212 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14213 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14214 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14215 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14216 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14217 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14220 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14221 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14222 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14223 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14224 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14225 group/function elements.
14227 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14229 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14231 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14233 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14234 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14236 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14237 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14238 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14241 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14242 @cindex splitting, fancy
14243 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14244 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14246 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14247 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14248 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14250 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14251 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14252 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14253 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14258 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14259 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14262 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14266 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14267 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14268 @cindex editing imap acls
14269 @cindex Access Control Lists
14270 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14272 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14274 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14275 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14276 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14279 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14280 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14281 editing window with detailed instructions.
14283 Some possible uses:
14287 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14288 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14289 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14291 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14292 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14293 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14297 @node Expunging mailboxes
14298 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
14302 @cindex Manual expunging
14304 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14306 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
14307 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14308 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14310 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14315 @node Combined Groups
14316 @section Combined Groups
14318 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
14322 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
14323 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
14327 @node Virtual Groups
14328 @subsection Virtual Groups
14330 @cindex virtual groups
14331 @cindex merging groups
14333 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
14336 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
14337 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
14338 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
14340 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
14341 regexp to match component groups.
14343 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
14344 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
14345 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
14346 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
14347 the virtual group.)
14349 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
14350 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
14353 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
14356 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
14357 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
14359 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
14360 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
14361 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
14362 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
14365 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
14368 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
14369 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
14370 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
14372 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
14373 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
14374 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
14375 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
14376 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
14378 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
14379 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
14380 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
14382 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
14383 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
14384 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
14385 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14386 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
14387 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
14388 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
14389 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
14390 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
14391 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
14392 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
14394 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14395 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14396 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14397 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14398 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14399 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14400 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14402 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14403 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14407 @node Kibozed Groups
14408 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14412 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14413 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14414 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14415 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14417 @kindex G k (Group)
14418 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14421 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14422 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14423 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14424 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14426 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14427 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14428 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14430 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14431 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14432 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14433 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14434 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14435 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14436 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14437 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14439 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14440 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14441 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14442 Stranger things have happened.
14444 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14445 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14447 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14448 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14449 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14450 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14451 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14452 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14454 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14455 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14458 @node Gnus Unplugged
14459 @section Gnus Unplugged
14464 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14466 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14467 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14468 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14469 read news. Believe it or not.
14471 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14472 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14473 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14474 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14475 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14477 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14478 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14479 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14480 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14481 reading news on a machine.
14483 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14487 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14488 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14492 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14493 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14500 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14502 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14505 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14506 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14507 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14508 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14509 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
14510 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14511 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14512 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14513 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14514 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14519 @subsection Agent Basics
14521 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14523 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14524 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14525 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14526 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14528 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14529 connected to the net continuously.
14531 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14532 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14534 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14539 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14540 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14541 already fetched while in this mode.
14544 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14545 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14546 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14547 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
14548 Source Specifiers}).
14551 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14552 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
14553 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
14554 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14555 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14558 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14559 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14560 then you read the news offline.
14563 And then you go to step 2.
14566 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14572 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14573 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14574 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14575 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14576 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14577 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14580 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14587 @node Agent Categories
14588 @subsection Agent Categories
14590 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14591 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14592 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14593 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14594 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14595 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14596 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14598 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14599 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14600 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14601 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14602 managing categories.
14605 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14606 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14607 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14611 @node Category Syntax
14612 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14614 A category consists of two things.
14618 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14619 are eligible for downloading; and
14622 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14623 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14624 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14627 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14628 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14629 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14630 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14632 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14633 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14634 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
14636 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14637 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14638 operators sprinkled in between.
14640 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14642 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14643 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14649 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14650 short (for some value of ``short'').
14652 Here's a more complex predicate:
14661 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14662 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14665 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14666 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14667 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14669 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14670 you want to do, you can write your own.
14674 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14675 lines; default 100.
14678 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14679 lines; default 200.
14682 True iff the article has a download score less than
14683 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14686 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14687 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14690 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14691 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14692 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14701 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14702 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14703 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14706 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14707 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14708 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14709 something along the lines of the following:
14712 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14713 "Say whether an article is old."
14714 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14715 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14718 with the predicate then defined as:
14721 (not my-article-old-p)
14724 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14725 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14726 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14727 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14730 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
14731 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14732 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14735 and simply specify your predicate as:
14741 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14742 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14743 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14744 just don't give a damn.
14746 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14747 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14748 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14749 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14750 parameters like so:
14753 (agent-predicate . short)
14756 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14757 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14758 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14760 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14763 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14766 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14767 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14768 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14771 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14772 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14773 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14774 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14775 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14776 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14778 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14779 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14780 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14781 if it's to be specific to that group.
14783 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14790 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14791 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14797 Category specification
14801 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14807 Group Parameter specification
14810 (agent-score ("from"
14811 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14816 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14822 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14829 Category specification
14832 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14838 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14842 Group Parameter specification
14845 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14848 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14853 Use @code{normal} score files
14855 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14856 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14857 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14858 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14860 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14861 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14862 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
14863 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14867 Category Specification
14874 Group Parameter specification
14877 (agent-score . file)
14882 @node Category Buffer
14883 @subsubsection Category Buffer
14885 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14886 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14887 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14889 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14893 @kindex q (Category)
14894 @findex gnus-category-exit
14895 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14898 @kindex k (Category)
14899 @findex gnus-category-kill
14900 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14903 @kindex c (Category)
14904 @findex gnus-category-copy
14905 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14908 @kindex a (Category)
14909 @findex gnus-category-add
14910 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14913 @kindex p (Category)
14914 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14915 Edit the predicate of the current category
14916 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14919 @kindex g (Category)
14920 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14921 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14922 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14925 @kindex s (Category)
14926 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14927 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14928 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14931 @kindex l (Category)
14932 @findex gnus-category-list
14933 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14937 @node Category Variables
14938 @subsubsection Category Variables
14941 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14942 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14943 Hook run in category buffers.
14945 @item gnus-category-line-format
14946 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14947 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14948 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14952 The name of the category.
14955 The number of groups in the category.
14958 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14959 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14960 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14962 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14963 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14964 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14966 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14967 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14968 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14970 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14971 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14972 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14975 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14976 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14977 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14983 @node Agent Commands
14984 @subsection Agent Commands
14986 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14987 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14988 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14992 * Group Agent Commands::
14993 * Summary Agent Commands::
14994 * Server Agent Commands::
14997 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14998 following incantation:
15000 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15002 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15007 @node Group Agent Commands
15008 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15012 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15013 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15014 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15015 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15018 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15019 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15020 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15023 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15024 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15025 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15026 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15029 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15030 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15031 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15032 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15035 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15036 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15037 Add the current group to an Agent category
15038 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15039 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15042 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15043 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15044 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15045 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15046 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15049 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15050 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15051 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15057 @node Summary Agent Commands
15058 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15062 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15063 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15064 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15067 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15068 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15069 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15070 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15073 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15074 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15075 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15078 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15079 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15080 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15085 @node Server Agent Commands
15086 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15090 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15091 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15092 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15093 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15096 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15097 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15098 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15099 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15105 @subsection Agent Expiry
15107 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15108 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15109 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15110 @cindex Agent expiry
15111 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
15114 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
15115 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
15116 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
15117 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
15118 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
15119 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
15121 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
15122 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
15123 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
15124 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
15125 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
15128 @node Agent and IMAP
15129 @subsection Agent and IMAP
15131 The Agent work with any Gnus backend, including nnimap. However,
15132 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
15133 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
15134 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
15136 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
15137 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
15138 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
15139 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
15141 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
15142 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
15143 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
15144 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
15145 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
15147 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15148 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
15149 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
15150 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
15151 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
15152 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
15154 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
15155 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
15156 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
15157 in the group buffer by default.
15159 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
15160 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
15165 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
15168 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
15172 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
15173 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
15174 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
15175 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
15176 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
15177 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
15178 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
15179 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
15182 @node Outgoing Messages
15183 @subsection Outgoing Messages
15185 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
15186 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
15187 after posting, and edit them at will.
15189 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
15190 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
15191 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
15192 messages in the draft group.
15196 @node Agent Variables
15197 @subsection Agent Variables
15200 @item gnus-agent-directory
15201 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
15202 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
15203 @file{~/News/agent/}.
15205 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
15206 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
15207 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
15208 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
15209 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
15212 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15213 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15214 Hook run when connecting to the network.
15216 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15217 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15218 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
15223 @node Example Setup
15224 @subsection Example Setup
15226 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
15227 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
15228 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
15231 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
15232 ;;; from your ISP's server.
15233 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
15235 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
15236 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
15237 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
15239 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
15240 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15242 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
15246 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
15247 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
15250 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
15251 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
15252 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
15253 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
15254 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
15257 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
15258 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
15259 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
15260 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
15261 back all the killed groups.)
15263 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
15264 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
15265 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
15268 @node Batching Agents
15269 @subsection Batching Agents
15271 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
15272 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
15273 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
15277 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
15281 @node Agent Caveats
15282 @subsection Agent Caveats
15284 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
15285 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
15289 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
15294 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
15295 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
15301 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
15302 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
15309 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
15310 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
15311 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
15314 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
15315 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
15316 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
15317 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
15318 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
15320 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
15321 before generating the summary buffer.
15323 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
15324 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
15325 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
15327 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
15328 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
15329 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
15330 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
15333 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
15334 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
15335 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
15336 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
15337 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
15338 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
15339 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
15340 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
15341 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
15342 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
15343 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
15344 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
15345 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
15346 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
15347 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
15348 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
15352 @node Summary Score Commands
15353 @section Summary Score Commands
15354 @cindex score commands
15356 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
15357 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
15358 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
15359 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
15360 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
15362 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
15363 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
15364 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
15365 score file the current one.
15367 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
15372 @kindex V s (Summary)
15373 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
15374 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
15377 @kindex V S (Summary)
15378 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
15379 Display the score of the current article
15380 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
15383 @kindex V t (Summary)
15384 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
15385 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
15386 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
15389 @kindex V R (Summary)
15390 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
15391 Run the current summary through the scoring process
15392 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
15393 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
15394 effect you're having.
15397 @kindex V c (Summary)
15398 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
15399 Make a different score file the current
15400 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
15403 @kindex V e (Summary)
15404 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
15405 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
15406 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
15410 @kindex V f (Summary)
15411 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
15412 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
15413 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
15416 @kindex V F (Summary)
15417 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15418 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
15419 after editing score files.
15422 @kindex V C (Summary)
15423 @findex gnus-score-customize
15424 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
15425 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
15429 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
15434 @kindex V m (Summary)
15435 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
15436 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
15437 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
15440 @kindex V x (Summary)
15441 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
15442 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
15443 expunge all articles below this score
15444 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
15447 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
15448 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
15451 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
15452 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
15456 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
15457 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15459 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15460 keys are available:
15464 Score on the author name.
15467 Score on the subject line.
15470 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15473 Score on the @code{References} line.
15479 Score on the number of lines.
15482 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15485 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15486 the followups to this author.
15500 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15501 what headers you are scoring on.
15513 Substring matching.
15516 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15545 Greater than number.
15550 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15551 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15552 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15556 Temporary score entry.
15559 Permanent score entry.
15562 Immediately scoring.
15567 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15568 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15569 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15570 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15572 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15573 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15574 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15575 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15576 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15578 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15579 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15580 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15581 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15582 current score file.
15584 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15585 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15586 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15589 @node Group Score Commands
15590 @section Group Score Commands
15591 @cindex group score commands
15593 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15598 @kindex W f (Group)
15599 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15600 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15601 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15602 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15606 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15608 @findex gnus-batch-score
15609 @cindex batch scoring
15611 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15615 @node Score Variables
15616 @section Score Variables
15617 @cindex score variables
15621 @item gnus-use-scoring
15622 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15623 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15624 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15626 @item gnus-kill-killed
15627 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15628 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15629 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15630 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15631 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15632 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15633 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15635 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15636 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15637 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15638 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15639 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15641 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15642 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15643 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15644 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15646 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15647 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15648 @cindex score cache
15649 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15650 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15651 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
15652 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15653 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15654 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15657 @item gnus-save-score
15658 @vindex gnus-save-score
15659 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15660 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15661 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15663 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15664 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15665 across group visits.
15667 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15668 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15669 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15670 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15671 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15672 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15673 manually entered data.
15675 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15676 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15677 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15679 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15680 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15681 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15682 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15683 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15684 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15686 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15687 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15688 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15689 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15691 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15692 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15693 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15694 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15696 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15697 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15698 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15699 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15701 Predefined functions available are:
15704 @item gnus-score-find-single
15705 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15706 Only apply the group's own score file.
15708 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15709 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15710 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15711 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15712 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15713 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15714 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15715 then a regexp match is done.
15717 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15718 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15720 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15721 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15722 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15723 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15725 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15726 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15727 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15728 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15729 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
15733 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15734 functions will be called with the group name as argument, and all the
15735 returned lists of score files will be applied. These functions can also
15736 return lists of score alists directly. In that case, the functions that
15737 return these non-file score alists should probably be placed before the
15738 ``real'' score file functions, to ensure that the last score file
15739 returned is the local score file. Phu.
15741 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
15742 overall score file, you could use the value
15744 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE")) 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
15747 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15748 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15749 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15750 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15751 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15753 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15754 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15755 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15756 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15757 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15758 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15759 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15762 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15763 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15764 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15766 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15767 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15768 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15769 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15770 threading---according to the current value of
15771 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15772 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15773 simplified in this manner.
15778 @node Score File Format
15779 @section Score File Format
15780 @cindex score file format
15782 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15783 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15784 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15786 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15790 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15792 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15794 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15796 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15801 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15805 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15806 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15807 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15808 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15812 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15813 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15815 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15816 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15817 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15819 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15824 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15825 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15826 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15827 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15828 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15829 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15830 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15831 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15832 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15833 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15834 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15835 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15836 to articles that matches these score entries.
15838 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15839 score entry has one to four elements.
15843 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15844 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15848 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15849 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15850 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15851 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15852 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15853 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15856 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15857 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15858 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15859 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15860 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15863 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15864 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15865 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15866 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15869 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15870 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15871 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15872 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15873 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15874 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15875 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15876 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15877 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15878 instead, if you feel like.
15881 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15882 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15884 These predicates are true if
15887 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15890 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15891 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15898 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15899 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15900 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15901 it's not. I think.)
15903 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15904 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15905 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15906 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15909 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15910 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15911 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15912 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15913 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15914 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15915 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15919 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15920 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15921 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15922 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15923 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15924 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15925 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15926 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15929 @item Head, Body, All
15930 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15934 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15935 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15936 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15937 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15938 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15939 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15940 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15944 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15945 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15946 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15947 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15948 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15949 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15950 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15951 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15952 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15953 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15954 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15958 @cindex Score File Atoms
15960 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15961 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15964 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15965 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15967 @item mark-and-expunge
15968 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15969 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15972 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15973 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15974 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15975 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15976 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15979 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15980 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15983 @item exclude-files
15984 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15985 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15989 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15990 ignored when handling global score files.
15993 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15994 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15995 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15996 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15999 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16000 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16001 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16002 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16004 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16008 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16011 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16012 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16013 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16014 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16015 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16017 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
16018 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
16019 ordinary scoring rules.
16022 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16023 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16024 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16025 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16026 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16027 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16028 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16029 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16030 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16031 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16032 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16036 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16037 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16038 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16039 file for a number of groups.
16042 @cindex local variables
16043 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16044 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16045 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16046 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16047 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16051 @node Score File Editing
16052 @section Score File Editing
16054 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16055 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16056 with a mode for that.
16058 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16059 additional commands:
16064 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16065 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16066 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16067 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16070 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16071 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16072 Insert the current date in numerical format
16073 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16074 you were wondering.
16077 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16078 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16079 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16080 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16081 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16086 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16088 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16089 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16091 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16092 e} to begin editing score files.
16095 @node Adaptive Scoring
16096 @section Adaptive Scoring
16097 @cindex adaptive scoring
16099 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16100 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16101 stupidity, to be precise.
16103 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16104 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16105 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16106 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16107 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16108 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
16109 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
16110 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
16111 variable to @code{(word line)}.
16113 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16114 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
16115 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
16116 might look something like this:
16119 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16120 '((gnus-unread-mark)
16121 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
16122 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
16123 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
16124 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
16125 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
16126 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
16127 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
16128 (gnus-ancient-mark)
16129 (gnus-low-score-mark)
16130 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
16133 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
16134 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
16135 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
16136 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
16137 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
16138 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
16141 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
16142 will be applied to each article.
16144 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
16145 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
16146 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
16147 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
16149 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
16150 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
16151 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
16152 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
16154 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
16155 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
16156 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
16157 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
16159 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
16160 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
16161 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
16162 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
16163 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
16164 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
16166 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
16167 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
16168 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
16169 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
16170 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
16171 aspirins afterwards.)
16173 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
16174 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
16175 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
16177 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
16178 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
16179 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
16181 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
16182 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
16183 let you use different rules in different groups.
16185 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
16186 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
16187 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
16190 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
16191 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
16192 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
16193 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
16194 the length of the match is less than
16195 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
16196 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
16199 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16200 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
16201 headers. If you adapt on words, the
16202 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
16203 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
16206 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16207 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
16208 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
16209 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
16210 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
16213 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
16214 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
16215 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
16216 score with 30 points.
16218 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
16219 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
16220 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
16221 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
16222 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
16224 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
16225 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
16226 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
16227 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
16228 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
16230 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
16231 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
16232 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
16233 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
16235 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
16236 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
16237 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
16238 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
16240 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
16241 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
16242 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
16243 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
16244 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
16246 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
16247 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
16248 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
16250 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
16251 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
16252 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
16253 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
16256 @node Home Score File
16257 @section Home Score File
16259 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
16260 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
16261 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
16262 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
16264 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
16265 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
16266 could perhaps use the same home score file.
16268 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
16269 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
16274 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
16278 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
16279 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
16283 A list. The elements in this list can be:
16287 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
16288 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
16291 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
16292 the home score file.
16295 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
16298 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
16303 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
16306 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16307 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
16310 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
16311 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
16313 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
16315 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16316 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
16319 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
16320 Other functions include
16323 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
16324 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
16325 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
16326 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
16330 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
16331 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
16332 their own home score files:
16335 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16336 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
16337 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
16338 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
16339 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
16342 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
16343 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
16344 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
16345 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
16346 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
16348 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
16349 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
16350 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
16351 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
16352 precedence over this variable.
16355 @node Followups To Yourself
16356 @section Followups To Yourself
16358 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
16359 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
16360 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
16361 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
16362 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
16363 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
16367 @item gnus-score-followup-article
16368 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
16369 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
16372 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
16373 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
16374 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
16378 @vindex message-sent-hook
16379 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
16380 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
16382 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
16386 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
16387 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
16391 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16392 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16395 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
16396 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
16401 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
16405 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
16406 is system-dependent.
16410 @section Scoring Tips
16411 @cindex scoring tips
16417 @cindex scoring crossposts
16418 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
16419 the @code{Xref} header.
16421 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
16424 @item Multiple crossposts
16425 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
16426 more than, say, 3 groups:
16428 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
16431 @item Matching on the body
16432 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
16433 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
16434 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
16435 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
16436 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
16437 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
16438 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
16441 @item Marking as read
16442 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
16443 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
16444 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
16448 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
16450 @item Negated character classes
16451 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
16452 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
16453 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
16457 @node Reverse Scoring
16458 @section Reverse Scoring
16459 @cindex reverse scoring
16461 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
16462 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
16463 like this in your score file:
16467 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
16472 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
16473 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16476 @node Global Score Files
16477 @section Global Score Files
16478 @cindex global score files
16480 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16481 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16482 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16484 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16485 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16486 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16488 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16489 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16490 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16491 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16492 files are applicable to which group.
16494 Say you want to use the score file
16495 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16496 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
16499 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16500 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16501 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16504 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16505 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16506 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16507 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16508 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16510 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16511 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16513 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16514 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16515 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16516 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16517 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16518 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16520 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16526 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16528 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16530 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16532 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16533 lowered out of existence.
16535 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16536 articles completely.
16539 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16540 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16541 old articles for a long time.
16544 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16545 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16546 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16547 holding our breath yet?
16551 @section Kill Files
16554 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16555 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16556 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16558 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16559 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16560 files into score files.
16562 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16563 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16564 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16565 that isn't a very good idea.
16567 Normal kill files look like this:
16570 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16571 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16575 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16576 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16578 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16579 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16582 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16587 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16588 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16589 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16592 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16593 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16594 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16597 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16602 @kindex M-k (Group)
16603 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16604 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16607 @kindex M-K (Group)
16608 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16609 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16612 Kill file variables:
16615 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16616 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16617 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16618 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16619 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16620 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16621 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16623 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16624 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16625 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16626 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16629 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16630 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16631 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16632 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16633 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16634 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16635 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16636 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16637 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16639 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16640 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16641 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16646 @node Converting Kill Files
16647 @section Converting Kill Files
16649 @cindex converting kill files
16651 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16652 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16653 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16656 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16657 You can fetch it from
16658 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
16660 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16661 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16662 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16670 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16671 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16672 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16674 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16675 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16676 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16677 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16678 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16679 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16680 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16681 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16685 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16686 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16687 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16688 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16692 @node Using GroupLens
16693 @subsection Using GroupLens
16695 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16697 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16698 better bit in town at the moment.
16700 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16704 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16705 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16706 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16707 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16709 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16710 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16711 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16712 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16714 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16715 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16716 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16720 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16721 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16722 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16723 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16724 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16725 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16728 @node Rating Articles
16729 @subsection Rating Articles
16731 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16732 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16733 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16734 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16737 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16742 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16743 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16744 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16747 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16748 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16749 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16750 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16751 threads in rec.humor.
16755 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16756 the score of the article you're reading.
16761 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16762 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16763 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16766 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16767 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16768 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16772 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16773 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16776 @node Displaying Predictions
16777 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16779 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16780 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16781 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16782 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16783 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16785 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16786 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16787 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16788 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16789 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16790 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16791 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16792 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16793 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16794 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16795 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16796 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16797 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16799 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16800 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16801 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16802 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16804 The following are valid values for that variable.
16807 @item prediction-spot
16808 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16811 @item confidence-interval
16812 A numeric confidence interval.
16814 @item prediction-bar
16815 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16817 @item confidence-bar
16818 Numerical confidence.
16820 @item confidence-spot
16821 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16823 @item prediction-num
16824 Plain-old numeric value.
16826 @item confidence-plus-minus
16827 Prediction +/- confidence.
16832 @node GroupLens Variables
16833 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16837 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16838 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16839 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16840 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16843 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16844 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16847 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16848 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16850 @item grouplens-score-offset
16851 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16852 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16855 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16856 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16857 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16862 @node Advanced Scoring
16863 @section Advanced Scoring
16865 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16866 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16867 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16868 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16869 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16871 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16875 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16876 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16877 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16881 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16882 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16884 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16885 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16886 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16887 non-@code{nil} value.
16889 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16890 operator, and various match operators.
16897 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16898 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16899 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16904 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16905 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16906 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16911 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16912 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16916 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16917 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16918 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16919 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16920 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16921 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16922 the ancestry you want to go.
16924 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16925 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16926 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16927 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16928 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16931 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16932 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16934 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16935 when he's talking about Gnus:
16939 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16940 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16946 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16950 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16957 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16958 really don't want to read what he's written:
16962 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16963 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16967 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16968 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16969 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16976 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16977 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16978 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16979 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16983 The possibilities are endless.
16986 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16987 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16989 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16990 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16991 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16992 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16993 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16994 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16995 @samp{subject}) first.
16997 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16998 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17009 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17010 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17016 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17023 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
17024 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17029 @section Score Decays
17030 @cindex score decays
17033 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17034 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17035 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17036 use them in any sensible way.
17038 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17039 @findex gnus-decay-score
17040 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17041 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17042 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17043 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17044 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17045 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17046 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17047 definition of that function:
17050 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17052 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17053 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17056 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17058 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17060 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17063 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17064 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17065 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17066 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
17070 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
17073 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
17076 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
17080 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
17081 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
17082 the new score, which should be an integer.
17084 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
17085 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
17092 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
17093 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
17094 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
17095 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
17096 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
17097 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
17098 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
17099 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
17100 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
17101 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
17102 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
17103 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
17104 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
17105 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
17106 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
17107 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
17108 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
17109 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
17113 @node Process/Prefix
17114 @section Process/Prefix
17115 @cindex process/prefix convention
17117 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
17118 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
17120 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
17121 command to be performed on.
17125 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
17126 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
17127 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
17128 with the current one.
17130 @vindex transient-mark-mode
17131 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
17132 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
17134 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
17135 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
17138 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
17139 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
17141 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
17144 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
17145 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
17146 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
17147 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17149 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
17150 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
17151 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
17152 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
17153 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
17154 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
17155 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
17156 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
17158 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
17159 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
17160 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
17161 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
17162 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
17166 @section Interactive
17167 @cindex interaction
17171 @item gnus-novice-user
17172 @vindex gnus-novice-user
17173 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
17174 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
17175 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
17176 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
17179 @item gnus-expert-user
17180 @vindex gnus-expert-user
17181 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
17182 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
17183 matter how strange.
17185 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
17186 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
17187 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
17188 is @code{t} by default.
17190 @item gnus-interactive-exit
17191 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
17192 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17197 @node Symbolic Prefixes
17198 @section Symbolic Prefixes
17199 @cindex symbolic prefixes
17201 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
17202 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
17203 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
17204 rule of 900 to the current article.
17206 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
17207 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
17208 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
17209 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
17210 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
17211 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
17212 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
17214 @kindex M-i (Summary)
17215 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
17216 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
17217 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
17218 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
17219 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
17220 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
17221 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
17222 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
17224 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
17225 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
17226 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
17228 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
17232 @node Formatting Variables
17233 @section Formatting Variables
17234 @cindex formatting variables
17236 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
17237 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
17238 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
17239 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
17240 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
17243 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
17244 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
17245 lots of percentages everywhere.
17248 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
17249 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
17250 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
17251 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
17252 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
17255 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
17256 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
17257 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
17258 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
17259 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
17260 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
17261 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
17262 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
17264 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
17265 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
17267 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
17268 @findex gnus-update-format
17269 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
17270 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
17271 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
17272 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
17276 @node Formatting Basics
17277 @subsection Formatting Basics
17279 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
17280 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
17281 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
17283 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
17284 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
17285 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
17286 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
17287 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
17290 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
17291 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
17292 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
17293 less than 4 characters wide.
17296 @node Mode Line Formatting
17297 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
17299 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
17300 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
17301 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
17302 with the following two differences:
17307 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
17310 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
17311 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
17312 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
17313 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
17314 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
17315 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
17316 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
17321 @node Advanced Formatting
17322 @subsection Advanced Formatting
17324 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
17325 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
17326 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
17327 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
17329 These are the valid modifiers:
17334 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
17338 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
17343 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
17346 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
17351 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
17354 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
17357 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
17360 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
17364 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
17365 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
17366 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
17367 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
17368 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
17369 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
17370 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
17372 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
17373 last operation, padding.
17375 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
17376 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
17377 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
17378 @xref{Compilation}.
17381 @node User-Defined Specs
17382 @subsection User-Defined Specs
17384 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
17385 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
17386 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
17387 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
17388 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
17389 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
17390 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
17391 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
17392 should protect against that.
17394 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
17395 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
17396 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
17397 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
17401 @node Formatting Fonts
17402 @subsection Formatting Fonts
17404 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
17405 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
17406 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
17407 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
17410 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
17411 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
17412 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
17413 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
17414 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
17415 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
17417 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
17418 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
17419 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
17420 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
17421 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
17422 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
17423 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
17424 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
17426 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
17429 ;; Create three face types.
17430 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
17431 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
17433 ;; We want the article count to be in
17434 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
17435 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
17436 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
17438 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
17439 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
17441 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
17442 (setq gnus-group-line-format
17443 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
17446 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
17447 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
17449 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
17450 mode-line variables.
17453 @node Windows Configuration
17454 @section Windows Configuration
17455 @cindex windows configuration
17457 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
17459 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
17460 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
17461 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
17462 @code{t} by default.
17464 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
17465 glitches. Use at your own peril.
17467 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
17468 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
17469 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
17472 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
17473 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
17474 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17478 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17479 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17480 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17481 possible names is listed below.
17483 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17484 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17487 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17491 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17492 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17493 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17494 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17495 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17496 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17497 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17498 size spec per split.
17500 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17501 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17502 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17503 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17504 present) gets focus.
17506 Here's a more complicated example:
17509 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17510 (summary 0.25 point)
17511 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17515 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17516 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17517 occupy, not a percentage.
17519 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17520 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17521 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17522 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17523 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17526 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17529 (article (horizontal 1.0
17534 (summary 0.25 point)
17539 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17540 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17542 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17543 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17544 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17545 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17546 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17548 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17549 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17550 lines from the splits.
17552 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17556 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17557 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17558 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17559 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17560 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17561 size = number | frame-params
17562 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
17565 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17566 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17567 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17568 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17570 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17571 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17572 @cindex window height
17573 @cindex window width
17574 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17575 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17576 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17577 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17578 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17579 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17581 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17582 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17583 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17584 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17586 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17587 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17588 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17589 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17590 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17591 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17592 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17593 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17594 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17595 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17596 configuration list.
17599 (gnus-configure-frame
17603 (article 0.3 point))
17611 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17612 @code{frame} split:
17615 (gnus-configure-frame
17618 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17620 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17621 (user-position . t)
17622 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17627 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17628 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17629 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17630 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17631 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17632 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17633 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17634 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17636 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17637 be found in its default value.
17639 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17640 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17641 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17645 (message (horizontal 1.0
17646 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17648 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17653 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17654 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17655 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17658 (message (frame 1.0
17659 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17660 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17661 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17662 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17663 (name . "Message"))
17664 (message 1.0 point))))
17667 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17668 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17669 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17670 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17671 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17674 (gnus-add-configuration
17675 '(article (vertical 1.0
17677 (summary .25 point)
17681 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17682 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17683 Gnus has been loaded.
17685 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17686 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17687 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17688 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17689 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17691 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17692 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17693 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17696 @subsection Example Window Configurations
17700 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
17701 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
17716 (gnus-add-configuration
17719 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17721 (summary 0.16 point)
17724 (gnus-add-configuration
17727 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17728 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
17734 @node Faces and Fonts
17735 @section Faces and Fonts
17740 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17741 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17742 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17747 @section Compilation
17748 @cindex compilation
17749 @cindex byte-compilation
17751 @findex gnus-compile
17753 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17754 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17755 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
17756 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17757 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17758 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17761 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17762 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17763 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17764 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
17765 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
17766 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
17767 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
17771 @section Mode Lines
17774 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17775 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17776 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17777 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17778 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17779 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17780 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17783 @cindex display-time
17785 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17786 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17787 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17788 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17789 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17790 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17791 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17792 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17795 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17797 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17798 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17800 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17801 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17802 (length display-time-string)))))
17805 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17806 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17807 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17808 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17809 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17812 @node Highlighting and Menus
17813 @section Highlighting and Menus
17815 @cindex highlighting
17818 @vindex gnus-visual
17819 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17820 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17821 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17824 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17825 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17828 @item group-highlight
17829 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17830 @item summary-highlight
17831 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17832 @item article-highlight
17833 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17835 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17837 Create menus in the group buffer.
17839 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17841 Create menus in the article buffer.
17843 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17845 Create menus in the server buffer.
17847 Create menus in the score buffers.
17849 Create menus in all buffers.
17852 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17853 buffers, you could say something like:
17856 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17859 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17862 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17865 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17866 in all Gnus buffers.
17868 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17871 @item gnus-mouse-face
17872 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17873 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17874 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17878 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17882 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17883 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17884 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17886 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17887 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17888 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17890 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17891 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17892 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17894 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17895 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17896 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17898 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17899 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17900 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17902 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17903 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17904 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17915 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17916 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17917 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17918 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17919 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17923 @vindex gnus-carpal
17924 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17925 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17926 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17931 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17932 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17933 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17935 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17936 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17937 Face used on buttons.
17939 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17940 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17941 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17943 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17944 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17945 Buttons in the group buffer.
17947 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17948 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17949 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17951 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17952 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17953 Buttons in the server buffer.
17955 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17956 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17957 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17960 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17961 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17962 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17970 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17971 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17972 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17973 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17974 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17976 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17977 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17978 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17980 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17981 been idle for thirty minutes:
17984 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17987 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17991 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17994 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17995 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17996 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17998 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17999 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
18000 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
18001 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18003 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
18004 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
18005 @var{idle} minutes.
18007 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
18008 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
18011 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
18012 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
18013 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
18015 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
18016 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
18017 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
18018 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
18020 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
18021 your @file{.gnus} file:
18023 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
18025 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
18028 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
18029 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
18030 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
18031 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
18032 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
18033 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
18034 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
18035 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
18036 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
18037 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
18038 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
18040 @findex gnus-demon-init
18041 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
18042 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
18043 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
18044 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
18045 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
18047 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
18048 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
18049 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
18058 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
18059 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
18061 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
18062 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
18063 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
18064 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
18067 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
18068 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
18069 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
18070 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
18072 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
18073 this will make spam disappear.
18075 There are some variables to customize, of course:
18078 @item gnus-use-nocem
18079 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
18080 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
18083 @item gnus-nocem-groups
18084 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
18085 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
18086 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
18087 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
18089 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
18090 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
18091 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
18092 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
18093 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
18094 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
18096 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
18097 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
18099 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
18100 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
18101 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
18102 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
18103 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
18104 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
18105 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
18106 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
18107 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
18108 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
18110 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
18111 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
18114 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
18117 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
18118 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
18121 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
18124 The specs are applied left-to-right.
18127 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
18128 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
18130 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
18131 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
18132 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
18133 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
18135 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
18136 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
18139 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
18141 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
18149 This might be dangerous, though.
18151 @item gnus-nocem-directory
18152 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
18153 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
18154 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
18156 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18157 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18158 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
18159 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
18160 might then see old spam.
18162 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
18163 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
18164 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
18165 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
18166 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
18169 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18170 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18171 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
18172 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
18176 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
18177 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
18178 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
18179 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
18186 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
18187 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
18188 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
18190 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
18191 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
18192 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
18193 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
18194 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
18195 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
18196 @code{undo} function.
18198 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
18199 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
18200 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
18201 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
18202 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
18203 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
18204 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
18205 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
18206 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
18207 never be totally undoable.
18209 @findex gnus-undo-mode
18210 @vindex gnus-use-undo
18212 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
18213 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
18214 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
18215 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
18220 @section Moderation
18223 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
18224 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
18225 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
18228 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
18232 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
18235 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18237 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
18242 You split your incoming mail by matching on
18243 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
18244 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
18247 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
18248 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
18251 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
18252 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
18256 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
18259 (setq gnus-moderated-list
18260 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
18264 @node XEmacs Enhancements
18265 @section XEmacs Enhancements
18268 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
18272 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
18273 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
18274 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
18275 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
18288 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
18289 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
18290 over your shoulder as you read news.
18293 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
18294 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
18295 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
18296 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
18297 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
18302 @subsubsection Picon Basics
18304 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
18313 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
18314 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
18315 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
18316 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
18317 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
18318 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
18319 @code{GIF} formats.
18322 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18323 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
18324 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
18325 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
18326 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
18328 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18329 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
18330 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
18331 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
18332 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
18333 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18336 @node Picon Requirements
18337 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
18339 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
18340 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
18343 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
18344 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
18345 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
18347 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18348 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
18349 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
18350 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
18351 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
18355 @subsubsection Easy Picons
18357 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
18358 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
18361 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
18362 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
18365 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
18366 containing the Picons databases.
18368 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
18371 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18372 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
18377 @subsubsection Hard Picons
18385 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
18386 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
18387 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
18388 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
18389 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
18394 @item gnus-picons-database
18395 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18396 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
18397 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
18398 subdirectories. This is only useful if
18399 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
18400 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
18402 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18403 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18404 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
18405 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
18406 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
18407 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
18408 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18410 @item gnus-picons-display-where
18411 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18412 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
18413 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
18414 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
18415 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
18416 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
18417 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
18419 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18420 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18421 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
18426 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
18427 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
18429 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
18430 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
18433 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18435 @item gnus-article-display-picons
18436 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18437 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
18438 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
18440 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
18441 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18442 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
18448 @node Picon Useless Configuration
18449 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
18457 The following variables offer further control over how things are
18458 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
18459 don't need to worry about.
18463 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
18464 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
18465 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18466 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
18468 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
18469 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
18470 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
18471 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
18473 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
18474 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
18475 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18476 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
18477 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
18479 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18480 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18481 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
18482 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
18483 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
18484 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
18485 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
18487 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18488 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18489 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
18490 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
18492 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18493 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18494 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
18495 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
18496 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
18497 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
18498 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
18500 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18501 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18502 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18503 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18505 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18506 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18507 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18508 Defaults to @code{t}.
18510 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18511 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18512 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18513 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18515 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18516 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18517 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18519 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18520 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18521 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18522 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18524 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18525 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
18527 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18528 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18529 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18530 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18531 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18532 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18533 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18534 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18545 @subsection Smileys
18550 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18555 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18556 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18558 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18559 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18562 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18565 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18566 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18567 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18568 text and maps that to file names.
18570 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18571 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18572 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18573 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18574 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18575 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18577 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18578 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18580 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18581 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18582 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18584 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18585 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18589 @item smiley-data-directory
18590 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18591 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18593 @item smiley-flesh-color
18594 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18595 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18597 @item smiley-features-color
18598 @vindex smiley-features-color
18599 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18601 @item smiley-tongue-color
18602 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18603 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18605 @item smiley-circle-color
18606 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18607 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18609 @item smiley-mouse-face
18610 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18611 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18617 @subsection Toolbar
18627 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18628 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18629 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18630 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18631 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18633 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18634 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18635 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18637 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18638 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18639 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18641 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18642 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18643 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18649 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18652 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18653 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18654 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18655 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18656 unusual directory structure.
18658 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18659 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18660 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18661 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18663 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18664 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18665 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18666 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18667 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18668 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18670 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18671 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18672 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18686 @node Fuzzy Matching
18687 @section Fuzzy Matching
18688 @cindex fuzzy matching
18690 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18691 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18693 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18694 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18695 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18697 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18698 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18699 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18700 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18701 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18704 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18705 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18709 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18711 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18712 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18713 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18714 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18715 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18716 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18717 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18718 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18721 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18722 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18723 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18724 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18725 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18726 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18730 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18731 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18733 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18734 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18735 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18736 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18737 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18738 part of the mail address.)
18741 (setq message-default-news-headers
18742 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18745 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18746 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18751 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18752 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18753 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18759 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18760 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18761 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18762 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18764 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18765 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18766 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18767 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18768 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18769 your fancy split rule in this way:
18774 (to "larsi" "misc")
18778 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18779 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18780 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18781 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18782 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18784 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18785 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18786 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
18787 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18788 cosmic balance somewhat.
18790 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18791 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18792 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18793 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18796 @node Various Various
18797 @section Various Various
18803 @item gnus-home-directory
18804 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18805 defaults to @file{~/}.
18807 @item gnus-directory
18808 @vindex gnus-directory
18809 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18810 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18811 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18813 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18814 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18815 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18816 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18818 @item gnus-default-directory
18819 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18820 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18821 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18822 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18823 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18824 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18825 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18828 @vindex gnus-verbose
18829 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18830 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18831 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18832 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18833 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18835 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18836 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18837 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18838 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18840 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18841 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18842 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18843 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18844 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18845 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18846 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18847 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18848 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18849 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18851 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18852 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18853 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18854 read when doing the operation described above.
18856 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18857 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18859 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18860 @cindex characters in file names
18861 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18862 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18863 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18866 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18870 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18871 Windows (phooey) systems.
18873 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18874 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18875 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18876 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18877 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18879 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18880 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18881 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18882 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18883 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18885 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18886 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18887 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18889 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18890 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18892 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
18893 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
18894 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
18895 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
18898 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
18907 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18908 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18910 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18912 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18918 Not because of victories @*
18921 but for the common sunshine,@*
18923 the largess of the spring.
18927 but for the day's work done@*
18928 as well as I was able;@*
18929 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18930 but at the common table.@*
18935 @chapter Appendices
18938 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18939 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18940 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18941 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18942 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18943 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18944 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18945 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18953 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18954 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18956 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18957 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18958 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
18959 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18960 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18962 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18963 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18964 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18965 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18966 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18967 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18969 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18970 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18971 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18972 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18975 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18976 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18977 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18978 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18979 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18980 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18981 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18982 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18983 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18987 @node Gnus Versions
18988 @subsection Gnus Versions
18989 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18991 @cindex September Gnus
18992 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18994 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18995 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18996 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18998 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18999 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
19001 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
19002 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
19004 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
19005 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
19007 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
19008 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
19011 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
19013 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
19014 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
19015 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
19016 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
19017 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
19018 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
19021 @node Other Gnus Versions
19022 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
19025 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
19026 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
19027 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
19028 @sc{mime} capabilities.
19030 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
19031 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
19032 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
19033 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
19040 What's the point of Gnus?
19042 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
19043 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
19044 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
19045 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
19046 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
19047 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
19048 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
19049 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
19050 keep track of millions of people who post?
19052 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
19053 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
19054 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
19055 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
19056 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
19057 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
19058 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
19059 every one of you to explore and invent.
19061 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
19062 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
19065 @node Compatibility
19066 @subsection Compatibility
19068 @cindex compatibility
19069 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
19070 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
19071 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
19076 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
19080 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
19083 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
19086 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
19087 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
19088 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
19089 important variables have their values copied into their global
19090 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
19091 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
19093 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
19094 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
19095 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
19096 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
19097 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
19101 @cindex highlighting
19102 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
19103 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
19104 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
19105 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
19106 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
19107 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
19110 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
19111 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
19112 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
19113 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
19115 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
19116 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
19117 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
19118 to stop doing it the old way.
19120 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
19122 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19124 @cindex reporting bugs
19126 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
19127 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
19128 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
19130 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
19131 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
19132 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
19133 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
19138 @subsection Conformity
19140 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
19141 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
19148 There are no known breaches of this standard.
19152 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
19154 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
19155 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
19156 We do have some breaches to this one.
19162 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
19163 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
19164 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
19165 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
19166 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
19171 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
19172 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
19173 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
19174 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
19178 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
19179 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
19184 @subsection Emacsen
19190 Gnus should work on :
19198 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
19202 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
19203 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
19206 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
19207 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
19208 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
19212 @node Gnus Development
19213 @subsection Gnus Development
19215 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
19216 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
19217 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
19218 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
19219 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
19220 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
19221 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
19222 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
19224 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
19225 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
19226 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
19227 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
19228 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
19231 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
19232 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
19233 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
19234 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
19235 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
19237 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
19238 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
19239 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
19240 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
19241 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
19242 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
19243 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
19244 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
19245 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
19246 can't be assumed to do so.
19251 @subsection Contributors
19252 @cindex contributors
19254 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
19255 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
19256 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
19257 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
19258 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
19259 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
19260 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
19261 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
19262 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
19263 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
19265 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
19271 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
19274 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
19275 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
19276 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
19277 functionality and stuff.
19280 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
19281 well as numerous other things).
19284 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
19287 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
19290 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
19293 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
19294 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
19297 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
19300 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
19301 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19304 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
19307 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
19310 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
19313 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
19316 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
19317 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
19320 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
19323 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
19326 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
19329 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
19333 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
19336 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
19339 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
19342 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
19343 well as autoconf support.
19347 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
19348 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
19350 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
19359 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
19363 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
19373 Alexei V. Barantsev,
19388 Massimo Campostrini,
19393 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
19394 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
19398 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
19401 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
19407 Michael Welsh Duggan,
19412 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
19416 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
19424 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
19426 Michelangelo Grigni,
19430 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
19432 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
19434 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
19441 François Felix Ingrand,
19442 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
19443 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
19445 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
19456 Peter Skov Knudsen,
19457 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
19459 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
19460 Thor Kristoffersen,
19463 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
19481 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
19482 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
19489 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
19494 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
19498 John McClary Prevost,
19504 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19509 Christian von Roques,
19512 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19519 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19521 Randal L. Schwartz,
19535 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19540 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19556 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19561 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19562 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19563 (550kB and counting).
19565 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19568 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19569 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19573 @subsection New Features
19574 @cindex new features
19577 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19578 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
19579 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19580 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19581 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
19584 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19585 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19586 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19589 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19591 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19596 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19597 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19600 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19601 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19604 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19607 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19608 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19609 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19612 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19613 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19614 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19615 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19618 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19619 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19622 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19623 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19624 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19627 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19628 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19631 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19632 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19633 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19636 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19637 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19638 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19641 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19642 the @file{.emacs} file.
19645 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19646 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19649 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19650 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19653 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19654 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19657 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19658 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19661 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19662 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19665 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19668 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19669 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19672 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19673 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19676 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19677 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19680 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19683 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19684 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19687 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19691 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19695 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19696 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19699 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19705 @node September Gnus
19706 @subsubsection September Gnus
19710 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19714 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19719 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19720 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19724 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19725 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19729 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19733 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19734 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19737 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19741 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19744 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19747 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19750 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19754 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19755 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19758 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19762 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19766 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19770 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19774 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19777 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19778 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19781 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19785 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19786 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19789 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19792 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19793 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19794 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19797 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19801 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19804 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19808 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19809 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19812 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19813 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19816 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19817 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19820 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19821 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19822 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19825 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19826 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19829 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19832 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19835 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19838 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19841 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19842 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19845 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19849 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19852 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19857 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19860 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19864 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19867 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19871 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19874 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19877 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19878 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19881 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19882 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19886 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19887 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19890 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19894 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19895 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19898 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19901 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19905 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19909 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19910 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19913 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19917 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19918 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19921 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19922 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19925 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19929 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19932 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19935 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19941 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19943 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19947 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19954 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19957 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19958 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19961 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19962 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19966 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19967 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19970 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19973 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19974 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19977 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19981 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19982 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19986 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19987 Server Internals}).
19990 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19994 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19997 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19998 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
20001 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
20002 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
20003 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
20006 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
20007 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20010 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
20011 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
20014 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
20018 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
20019 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20022 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
20023 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20026 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
20030 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
20033 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
20037 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
20038 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20041 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
20042 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20045 A new command for reading collections of documents
20046 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
20047 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
20050 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
20054 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
20055 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
20058 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
20059 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
20060 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
20063 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
20064 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
20068 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
20072 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
20076 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
20081 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
20085 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
20089 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
20090 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
20093 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
20099 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
20101 New features in Gnus 5.6:
20106 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
20107 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
20108 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
20111 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
20112 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
20113 group, which is created automatically.
20116 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
20120 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
20123 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
20124 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
20127 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
20131 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
20134 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
20135 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
20138 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
20141 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
20142 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
20145 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
20146 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
20149 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
20150 control over simplification.
20153 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
20156 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
20160 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
20163 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
20166 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
20167 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
20168 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
20171 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
20172 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
20175 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
20179 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
20180 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
20183 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
20184 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
20187 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
20191 A history of where mails have been split is available.
20194 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
20197 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
20198 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
20201 A new function for citing in Message has been
20202 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
20205 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
20208 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
20212 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
20213 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
20216 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
20217 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
20220 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
20223 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
20227 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
20228 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
20230 New features in Gnus 5.8:
20234 @item The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
20235 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
20237 If you used procmail like in
20240 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
20241 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
20242 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
20243 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
20246 this now has changed to
20250 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
20254 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
20255 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
20257 @item Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
20258 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
20260 @item Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
20261 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
20263 @item @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
20264 called to position point.
20266 @item The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
20267 summary buffers and NOV files.
20269 @item @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
20270 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
20272 @item The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
20273 subtly different manner.
20275 @item New web-based backends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
20276 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
20277 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
20279 @item Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
20287 @section The Manual
20291 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20292 either @code{texi2dvi}
20294 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20295 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20297 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20299 The following conventions have been used:
20304 This is a @samp{string}
20307 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20310 This is a @file{file}
20313 This is a @code{symbol}
20317 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20321 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20324 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20327 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20330 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20331 ever get them confused.
20335 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20336 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20337 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20338 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20339 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20340 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20341 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20347 @node On Writing Manuals
20348 @section On Writing Manuals
20350 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20351 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20352 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20353 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20354 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20355 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20358 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20359 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20360 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20363 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20364 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20369 @section Terminology
20371 @cindex terminology
20376 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20377 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20378 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20379 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20380 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20384 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20385 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20386 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20387 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20391 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20395 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20400 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20401 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20402 is all done by the backends.
20406 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20407 default, way of getting news.
20411 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20412 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20417 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20418 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20422 A message that has been posted as news.
20425 @cindex mail message
20426 A message that has been mailed.
20430 A mail message or news article
20434 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20439 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20444 A line from the head of an article.
20448 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20449 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20453 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20454 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20455 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20456 normal @sc{head} format.
20460 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20461 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20462 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20463 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20464 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20465 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20467 @item killed groups
20468 @cindex killed groups
20469 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20470 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20472 @item zombie groups
20473 @cindex zombie groups
20474 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20477 @cindex active file
20478 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20479 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20480 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20483 @cindex bogus groups
20484 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20485 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20486 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20489 @cindex activating groups
20490 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20491 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20492 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20496 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20498 @item select method
20499 @cindex select method
20500 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20503 @item virtual server
20504 @cindex virtual server
20505 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20506 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20507 whole is a virtual server.
20511 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20512 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20515 @item ephemeral groups
20516 @cindex ephemeral groups
20517 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20518 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20519 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20522 @cindex solid groups
20523 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20524 group buffer are solid groups.
20526 @item sparse articles
20527 @cindex sparse articles
20528 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20529 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20533 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20534 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20538 @cindex thread root
20539 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20540 articles in the thread.
20544 An article that has responses.
20548 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20552 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20553 specified by RFC 1153.
20559 @node Customization
20560 @section Customization
20561 @cindex general customization
20563 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20564 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20565 for some quite common situations.
20568 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20569 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20570 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20571 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20575 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20576 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20578 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20579 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20580 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20584 @item gnus-read-active-file
20585 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20586 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20587 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20588 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20589 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20591 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20592 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20593 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20594 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20598 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20599 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20601 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20602 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20603 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20607 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20608 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20609 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20610 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20611 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20613 @item gnus-visible-headers
20614 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20615 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20616 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20617 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20619 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20621 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20622 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20623 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20626 @item gnus-use-full-window
20627 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20628 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20629 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20630 want to read them anyway.
20632 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20633 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20636 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20637 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20638 lines, which might save some time.
20642 @node Little Disk Space
20643 @subsection Little Disk Space
20646 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20647 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20651 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20652 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20653 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20654 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20657 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20658 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20659 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20660 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20663 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20664 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20665 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20666 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20667 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20673 @subsection Slow Machine
20674 @cindex slow machine
20676 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20677 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20679 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20680 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20682 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20683 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20684 summary buffer faster.
20688 @node Troubleshooting
20689 @section Troubleshooting
20690 @cindex troubleshooting
20692 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20700 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20703 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20704 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20708 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20709 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20710 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20711 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20714 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20718 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20719 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20720 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20721 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20722 something like that.
20725 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20728 @cindex reporting bugs
20730 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20732 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20733 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20734 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20735 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20737 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20738 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20739 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20740 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20743 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20744 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20745 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20746 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20747 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20748 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20750 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20751 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20752 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20755 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20756 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20758 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20759 @cindex ding mailing list
20760 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20761 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20765 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20766 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20768 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20769 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20770 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20771 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20774 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20775 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20776 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20777 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20778 and general methods of operation.
20781 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20782 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20783 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20784 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20785 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20786 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20787 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20788 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20789 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20793 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20794 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20795 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20796 @cindex utility functions
20798 @cindex internal variables
20800 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20801 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20802 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20806 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20807 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20808 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20810 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20811 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20812 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20814 @item gnus-group-real-name
20815 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20816 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20819 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20820 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20821 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20822 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20824 @item gnus-get-info
20825 @findex gnus-get-info
20826 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20828 @item gnus-group-unread
20829 @findex gnus-group-unread
20830 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20834 @findex gnus-active
20835 The active entry for @var{group}.
20837 @item gnus-set-active
20838 @findex gnus-set-active
20839 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20841 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20842 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20843 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20846 @item gnus-continuum-version
20847 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20848 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20849 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20852 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20853 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20854 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20856 @item gnus-news-group-p
20857 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20858 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20860 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20861 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20862 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20864 @item gnus-server-to-method
20865 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20866 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20868 @item gnus-server-equal
20869 @findex gnus-server-equal
20870 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20872 @item gnus-group-native-p
20873 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20874 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20876 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20877 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20878 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20880 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20881 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20882 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20884 @item group-group-find-parameter
20885 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20886 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20887 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20889 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20890 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20891 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20893 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20894 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20895 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20897 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20898 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20899 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20900 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20903 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20907 @item gnus-read-method
20908 @findex gnus-read-method
20909 Prompts the user for a select method.
20914 @node Backend Interface
20915 @subsection Backend Interface
20917 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20918 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20919 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20920 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20921 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20922 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20924 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20925 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20926 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20927 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20928 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20929 been opened, the function should fail.
20931 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20932 name. Take this example:
20936 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20937 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20940 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20941 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20943 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20944 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20945 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20947 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20948 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20949 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20951 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20952 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20953 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20954 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20955 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20956 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20959 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20960 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20961 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20962 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20965 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20968 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20971 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20972 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20973 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20974 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20975 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20976 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20980 @node Required Backend Functions
20981 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20985 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20987 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20988 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20989 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20990 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20992 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20993 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20994 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20995 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20997 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20998 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20999 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21000 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21001 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21002 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21003 number, do maximum fetches.
21005 Here's an example HEAD:
21008 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21009 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21010 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21011 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21012 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21013 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21014 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21016 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21017 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21018 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21022 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21023 these in the data buffer.
21025 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21029 head = error / valid-head
21030 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21031 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21032 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21033 header = <text> eol
21036 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21037 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21041 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21042 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21043 field = <text except TAB>
21046 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21050 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21052 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21053 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21055 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21056 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21057 server. In fact, it should do so.
21059 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21060 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21063 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21065 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21066 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21069 There should be no data returned.
21072 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21074 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21075 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21076 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21077 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21079 There should be no data returned.
21082 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21084 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21085 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21086 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21087 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21089 There should be no data returned.
21092 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21094 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21096 There should be no data returned.
21099 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21101 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21102 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21103 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21104 it would be nice if that were possible.
21106 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21107 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21108 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21109 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21110 into its article buffer.
21112 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21113 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21114 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21115 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21116 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21117 on successful article retrieval.
21120 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21122 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21123 making @var{group} the current group.
21125 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21128 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21131 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21134 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21135 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21136 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21137 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21138 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21139 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21140 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21141 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21144 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21145 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21146 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21150 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21152 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21153 a no-op on most backends.
21155 There should be no data returned.
21158 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21160 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21163 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21166 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21167 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21170 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21171 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21174 active-file = *active-line
21175 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21177 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21180 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21181 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21182 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21185 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21187 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21188 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21189 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21190 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21191 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21192 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21194 There should be no result data from this function.
21199 @node Optional Backend Functions
21200 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21204 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21206 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21207 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21208 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21210 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21211 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21212 former is in the same format as the data from
21213 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21214 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21217 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21221 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21223 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21224 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21225 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21226 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21227 should return the (altered) group info.
21229 There should be no result data from this function.
21232 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21234 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21235 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21236 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21237 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21238 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21239 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21240 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21241 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21243 There should be no result data from this function.
21246 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21248 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21249 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21250 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21251 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21252 propagate the mark information to the server.
21254 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21257 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21260 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
21261 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21262 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21263 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21264 mentioned) marks. MARK is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21265 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21266 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21267 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21268 not limit itself to these.
21270 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21271 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21272 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21273 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21275 An example action list:
21278 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21279 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21280 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21283 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21284 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21286 There should be no result data from this function.
21288 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21290 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21291 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21292 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21293 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21294 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21296 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21297 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21298 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21301 There should be no result data from this function.
21304 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21306 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21307 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21308 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21309 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21310 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21311 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21312 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21314 There should be no result data from this function.
21317 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21319 The result data from this function should be a description of
21323 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21325 description = <text>
21328 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21330 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21331 groups available on the server.
21334 description-buffer = *description-line
21338 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21340 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21341 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21342 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21345 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21347 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21349 There should be no return data.
21352 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21354 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21355 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21356 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21357 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21358 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21361 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21364 There should be no result data returned.
21367 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21370 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21371 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21373 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21374 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21375 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21376 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21377 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21378 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21380 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21381 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21384 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21385 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21387 There should be no data returned.
21390 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21392 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21393 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21394 this function in short order.
21396 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21397 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21399 There should be no data returned.
21402 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21404 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21405 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21407 There should be no data returned.
21410 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21412 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21413 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21414 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21416 There should be no data returned.
21419 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21421 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21422 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21424 There should be no data returned.
21429 @node Error Messaging
21430 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21432 @findex nnheader-report
21433 @findex nnheader-get-report
21434 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21435 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21436 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21437 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21438 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21439 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21442 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21444 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21447 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21448 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21449 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21450 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21452 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21453 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21454 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21457 @node Writing New Backends
21458 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21460 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21461 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21462 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21463 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21464 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21467 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21468 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21469 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21471 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21472 package called @code{nnoo}.
21474 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21475 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21481 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21482 parameters. For instance:
21485 (nnoo-declare nndir
21489 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21490 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21493 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21494 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21495 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21497 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21498 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21499 a function in those backends.
21502 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21503 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21504 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21507 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21508 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21509 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21511 @item nnoo-define-basics
21512 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21516 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21520 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21521 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21522 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21524 @item nnoo-map-functions
21525 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21526 functions from the parent backends.
21529 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21530 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21531 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21534 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21535 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21536 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21537 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21540 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21541 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21542 haven't already been defined.
21548 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21552 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21553 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21554 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21559 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21562 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21563 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21567 (require 'nnheader)
21571 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21573 (nnoo-declare nndir
21576 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21577 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21578 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21580 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21581 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21584 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21585 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21586 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21588 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21589 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21591 ;;; Interface functions.
21593 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21595 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21596 (setq nndir-directory
21597 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21599 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21600 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21601 (push `(nndir-current-group
21602 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21604 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21605 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21607 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21609 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21610 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21611 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21612 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21613 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21617 nnmh-status-message
21619 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21625 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21626 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21628 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21629 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21630 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21631 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21633 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21634 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21639 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21642 The abilities can be:
21646 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21648 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21650 This backend supports both mail and news.
21652 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21655 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21656 articles and groups.
21658 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21659 true for almost all backends.
21660 @item prompt-address
21661 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21662 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21663 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21667 @node Mail-like Backends
21668 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21670 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21671 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21672 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21673 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21676 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21677 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21678 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21681 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21682 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21685 This function takes four parameters.
21689 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21692 @item exit-function
21693 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21695 @item temp-directory
21696 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21699 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21700 performed for one group only.
21703 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21704 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21705 find the article number assigned to this article.
21707 The function also uses the following variables:
21708 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21709 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21710 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21711 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21715 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21716 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21720 @node Score File Syntax
21721 @subsection Score File Syntax
21723 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21724 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21725 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21727 Here's a typical score file:
21731 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21738 BNF definition of a score file:
21741 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21742 element = rule / atom
21743 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21744 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21745 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21746 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21748 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21749 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21750 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21751 date-header = "date"
21752 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21753 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21754 score = "nil" / <integer>
21755 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21756 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21757 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21758 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21759 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21760 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21761 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21762 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21763 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21764 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21765 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21766 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21767 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21768 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21769 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21770 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21771 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21772 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21773 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21774 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21775 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21776 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21777 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21778 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21779 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21780 eval = "eval" space <form>
21781 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21784 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21787 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21788 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21789 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21790 one looong line, then that's ok.
21792 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21793 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21797 @subsection Headers
21799 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21800 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21801 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21802 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21804 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21805 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21806 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21807 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21808 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21809 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21810 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21812 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21813 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21814 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21815 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21816 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21818 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21819 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21825 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21826 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21828 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21829 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21830 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21831 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21833 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21837 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21840 is transformed into
21843 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21846 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21847 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21850 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21853 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21854 is slightly tricky:
21857 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21863 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21866 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21872 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21879 and is equal to the previous range.
21881 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21882 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21883 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21887 range = simple-range / normal-range
21888 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21889 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21890 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21891 number *[ " " contents ]
21894 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21895 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21896 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21897 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21898 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21903 @subsection Group Info
21905 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21906 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21907 describes the group.
21909 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21910 second is a more complex one:
21913 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21915 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21916 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21918 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21921 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21922 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21923 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21924 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21925 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21926 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21927 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21928 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21929 this section is about.
21931 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21932 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21933 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21935 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21938 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21939 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21940 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21941 group = quote <string> quote
21942 ralevel = rank / level
21943 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21944 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21945 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21947 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21948 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21949 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21950 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21953 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21954 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21957 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21958 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21961 @item gnus-info-group
21962 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21963 @findex gnus-info-group
21964 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21965 Get/set the group name.
21967 @item gnus-info-rank
21968 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21969 @findex gnus-info-rank
21970 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21971 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21973 @item gnus-info-level
21974 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21975 @findex gnus-info-level
21976 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21977 Get/set the group level.
21979 @item gnus-info-score
21980 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21981 @findex gnus-info-score
21982 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21983 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21985 @item gnus-info-read
21986 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21987 @findex gnus-info-read
21988 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21989 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21991 @item gnus-info-marks
21992 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21993 @findex gnus-info-marks
21994 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21995 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21997 @item gnus-info-method
21998 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21999 @findex gnus-info-method
22000 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22001 Get/set the group select method.
22003 @item gnus-info-params
22004 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22005 @findex gnus-info-params
22006 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22007 Get/set the group parameters.
22010 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22011 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22013 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22014 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22015 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22016 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22019 @node Extended Interactive
22020 @subsection Extended Interactive
22021 @cindex interactive
22022 @findex gnus-interactive
22024 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22025 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22026 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22029 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22030 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22035 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22036 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22037 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22038 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22039 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22040 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22041 @code{interactive}.
22043 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22048 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22049 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22053 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22054 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22055 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22058 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22062 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22066 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22072 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22073 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22077 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22078 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22079 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22081 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22082 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22083 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22084 Gnus, that's very useful.
22086 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22087 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22088 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22089 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22090 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22091 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22092 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22093 following function:
22096 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22100 (,function ,@@args))
22104 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22105 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22106 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22109 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22110 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22111 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22113 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22114 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22115 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22118 @node Various File Formats
22119 @subsection Various File Formats
22122 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22123 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22127 @node Active File Format
22128 @subsubsection Active File Format
22130 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22131 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22134 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22137 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22138 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22139 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22140 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22141 no.general 1000 900 y
22144 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22147 active = *group-line
22148 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22149 group = <non-white-space string>
22151 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22152 low-number = <positive integer>
22153 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22156 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22157 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22160 @node Newsgroups File Format
22161 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22163 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22164 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22165 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22168 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22169 Here's the definition:
22173 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22174 group = <non-white-space string>
22176 description = <string>
22181 @node Emacs for Heathens
22182 @section Emacs for Heathens
22184 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22185 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22186 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22187 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22188 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22189 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22190 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22194 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22195 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22200 @subsection Keystrokes
22204 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22207 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22210 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22211 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22212 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22213 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22214 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22215 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22217 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22218 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22219 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22220 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22221 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22222 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22223 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22225 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22226 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22227 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22228 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22229 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22230 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22231 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22233 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22234 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22235 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22236 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22237 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22243 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22245 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22246 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22247 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22248 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22250 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22251 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22252 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22253 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22254 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22255 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22256 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22259 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22260 write the following:
22263 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22266 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22267 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22268 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22271 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22272 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22273 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22274 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22275 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22277 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22278 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22279 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22283 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22287 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22290 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22291 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22294 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22297 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22298 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22301 @include gnus-faq.texi
22322 % LocalWords: Backend BNF mucho Backends backends detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
22323 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
22324 % LocalWords: nnmbox backend newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
22325 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
22326 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref